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A recent study, titled “Adults and Cell Phone Distraction,” has found that adults may be worse than teens when it comes driving while using a cell phone.

According to the study, “One in four (27%) American adults say they have texted while driving, the same proportion as the number of driving age teens (26%) who say they have texted while driving. Fully 61% of adults say they have talked on their cell phones while they were behind the wheel. That is considerably greater than the number of 16- and 17-year-olds (43%) who have talked on their cells while driving.”

The report concludes, “Adults are just as likely as teens to have texted while driving and are substantially more likely to have talked on the phone while driving.”

These findings are disturbing, given the number of accidents caused by distracted drivers each year. “The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has attributed some 6,000 deaths and a half-million injuries each year to distracted driving,” writes Consumer Reports.

The NHTSA defines distracted driving as “anything that takes your eyes off the road, your hands off the steering wheel, or interrupts your concentration while driving.”

In recent years, calls to ban cell phone usage while driving has made headlines. Thus far, seven states and the District of Columbia (DC) have banned drivers from using hand-held devices while operating a motor vehicle. What’s more, 29 states and DC have banned texting while driving. For a full list, see Distraction.gov.

The study of “Adults and Cell Phone Distraction” was conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project — a self-described “fact tank” that researches and reports on the impact that the internet has on American life. It was based on a sample of 2,252 adults, age 18 and older.

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