copyright 2009, The Washington Post WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has banned federal employees from text messaging when they are behind the wheel of government vehicles and from texting in their own cars if they use government-issued phones or are on official business. The ban, in the form of an executive order signed Wednesday night, was announced Thursday by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at the culmination of a two-day meeting on the issue of distracted driving. 'It shows that the federal government is taking the lead,' LaHood said. 'This is a big deal.' LaHood said the order also encourages federal contractors and others who do business with the government to bar their employees from texting while driving company vehicles. LaHood also said his department is developing permanent restrictions on use of mobile devices by rail operators, interstate truck and bus operators and school bus drivers. The parameters of those rules have not been established, he said. The gathering in Washington of 300 federal and state officials to discuss growing concerns about the danger of mobile phone use and texting on the highways ended without any clear plan for addressing the issue. There was general agreement -- supported by public polling and anecdotal evidence of highway mayhem -- that use of devices such as iPods and BlackBerries has become a serious hazard. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have banned texting while driving. In urging the other states to adopt similar rules, LaHood declined to say whether he favored using the same big-stick approach that encouraged states to reduce the legal intoxication limit to .08 blood alcohol level, and to increase the drinking age to 21. Many states complied with those federal standards only after their highway funding was threatened. 'We're going to work with Congress on this issue,' said LaHood, a former House member. 'I've been around long enough to know better than to talk about these things before I talk with them.' 