Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has stepped up his fight against distracted driving with alarming new statistics from Consumer Reports and a public awareness campaign conducted together with the publication.

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers, who are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. The Transportation Department reports that about 5,500 people were killed and another half million were injured in 2009 during accidents related to distracted driving.

New poll numbers from Consumer Reports show that nearly one-third of drivers under 30 reported that they used their phone to send text messages while behind the wheel, and 63 percent of respondents said they had used their phone while driving.

"Distracted driving has become a deadly epidemic on America's roads," Secretary LaHood said in a statement.

The Transportation Department and Consumer Reports are partnering on a national campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. The two groups have developed guides for parents and teachers about the issue and will be airing public service announcements on nationwide television stations.

In addition to finding that younger drivers were more likely to engage in distracted driving, Consumer Reports found that younger drivers were less likely to view distracted driving as dangerous. Among the under-30 respondents, only 36 percent were very concerned about the problem of distracted driving, and only 30 percent felt it was very dangerous to use a handheld phone.

Consumer Reports' survey was nationally representative and was conducted in November 2010 with a total of 1,026 respondents.