The vast majority of Utahns support a bill signed Wednesday by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. that bans drivers from text messaging while on roadways, but the widow of a man killed in an accident caused by a text-messaging driver does not think it goes far enough.

Ninety-one percent of Utahns surveyed by pollster Dan Jones & Associates for the Deseret News and KSL-TV said they favored the law that will make texting or e-mailing on a cell phone a primary offense, which means police officers can pull over drivers for that offense alone.

The poll was conducted March 17-18 and 400 people were interviewed. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percent.

Four bills restricting the use of cell phones or texting were introduced during the 45-day session that ended earlier this month. Ultimately, Provo Rep. Stephen Clark's HB290 passed. It will become law effective July 1, said Huntsman's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley.

First-time offenders will be charged with a class C misdemeanor. That jumps to a class B misdemeanor if the driver inflicts serious injury on another person as a result of texting or has a prior conviction within three years.

If texting while driving results in the death of another person, the driver may be charged with automobile homicide, either as a second- or third-degree felony. The National Conference of State Legislatures said eight states — Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington — and the District of Columbia have laws similar to the Utah law.

Text messaging bans are becoming more mainstream because "society values smart, aware drivers that are paying attention to the road," said Rolayne Fairclough, spokeswoman for AAA Utah. "And texting, it's very distracting to do while you're driving."

But Leila O'Dell, who lost her husband Keith P. O'Dell, 50, of North Logan after an accident on Sept. 22, 2006, believes not only text messaging — which claimed her husband — but all cell phone use by drivers should be banned, including use of hands-free devices.

"If you listen to the experts, which over the course of the trial I did, fatigue is the number one cause of crashes, texting is number two, cell phone including hands-free is number three," Leila O'Dell said. "Drunk driving isn't even in the top three. And I'm hoping (the governor signs) the law, for reasons of punishment, even though some police feel it's going to be difficult to enforce."