CLEVELAND -- Many towns, cities and the state of New York have passed laws restricting the use of hand-held cellular phones while driving.

According to Connecting With Kids' Tonya Strong, dialing and driving can be a dangerous distraction for adults and even more of a distraction for beginning drivers.

A'Sari Ituen, 17, isn't afraid of talking and driving, Strong reports. "Probably if I got in an accident while doing it, that would really scare me and I wouldn't do it anymore," said Ituen.

Katie Bowser, 17, was driving when her cell phone rang. When she looked down to try to find her phone, she swerved into oncoming traffic.

"I was just like, oh my God, I'm gonna die. So I sat back up and the phone stopped ringing. It could have been bad," she said.

New research shows that five times more 16- to 19-year-olds use cell phones today than just two years ago.

Strong says that and because of it, more and more are involved in accidents.

"It isn't a plaything," said Robert Wilson of the National Safety Council. "It is a several thousand pound vehicle that can in a split second can become a weapon or a tragedy."

Experts advise parents to tell their kids over and over, you can only concentrate on one thing at a time.

"We also shouldn't encourage driving and talking and eating and changing your make-up and shaving -- all sorts of activities that really are not appropriate when you are behind the wheel are distractions, and we ought to eliminate all of them," said Len Pagano, of the Safe America Foundation.

Bowser also has advice for teen.

"You should have your priorities when you're in the car and the phone shouldn't be the first priority -- like driving safely should be.