Distracted drivers, deathpenalty to create attention?

New York Times has a article about distracting drivers on the street´s. Why this behavior? I ask you who type text message on your bluberry or iphone.

In the country I live in is´t it forbidden to talk in your phone while you are driving. Something we should adapt. But that is not the issue in this blogpost. I don´t understand why people drive and text message at the same time.

Quote from New York Times Video "Distracting drivers"
"Lightning a cigarette at the same time xxx text message while he/she drive the car with the knee."

Do we need death penalty, so that human beings understand that the behavior is´t acceptable? I do hope not, but you should have a huge "penalty/fine" something like 1 000 dollar´s.