Topeka ? Erica Bell, a sophomore at Topeka’s Seaman High School, knows the cost of texting while driving.

While reading a text on her way to work, she collided with a bridge wall and totaled her 2004 fully-loaded Malibu. She wasn’t hurt, but adds, “Now I have a really not nice car.”

Erica Bell, a student at Topeka's Seaman High School, talks about the dangers of texting while driving after a news conference on Tuesday at the Statehouse.

Bell and state leaders held a news conference urging passage of legislation that would make texting while driving a traffic infraction and assess fines.

Several bills on the matter are pending as the Legislature returns for the wrap-up session on Wednesday. One would fine violators $100 while another would assess a $60 fine.

Graphics warning of the dangers of texting while driving were unveiled Tuesday during a news conference at the Statehouse. The graphics were created by Brian Bookwalter, a graphic design student working on his master's degree at Kansas State University.

Lt. Gov. Troy Findley, state Sen. Tim Owens, R-Overland Park, and state Rep. Gary Hayzlett, R-Lakin, said they hoped to have a bill ready for Gov. Mark Parkinson to sign into law before the end of the 2010 legislative session.

Bell said she doesn’t use her cell phone anymore while driving and also holds her friends’ phones when she is a passenger so that they won’t text and drive.