Driver Was Texting in Missouri Traffic Pileup

Federal safety investigators say a 19-year-old driver was texting at the time his pickup truck, two school buses and a tractor-trailer truck collided in a deadly pileup on an interstate highway in Missouri last year.

The National Transportation Safety Board released the information Monday. The board is scheduled to meet Tuesday to hear the results of an investigation into the accident near Gray Summit and make safety recommendations.

Two people – the pickup driver and a 15-year-old student on one of the buses – were killed and 38 others were injured. Fifty children were on the buses heading to a Six Flags amusement park.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said last week that the problem of texting while driving is getting worse despite a rush by states to ban the practice.