Not all teenagers are mindless idiots, else surely the scale of the problem would be a much wider one. Rather, I think it's a more general problem and whilst we're focusing on this let's also not forget the problem of undocumented drivers including those who enter the country illegally; what's the police stance on even stopping those people.
Me personally, I don't phone or text..the device does not get used unless in case of emergency and if I have to use it? I wait then stop in a relatively safe place, or get someone else to read it. The same kind of thing happens in the UK, and is made especially worse by speed and sheer volume of traffic. I think the examples quoted - be they from Reuters or a third party, are extreme cases and those most people do have enough common sense to realise they're behind the wheel of a machine that can kill in the blink of an eye, be it the driver or passanger, or other road users.