You know it is illegal -- and dangerous. But you're doing it anyway. A new poll conducted by PEMCO Insurance indicates that 18 percent of Washington drivers admit to reading or sending text messages from behind the wheel. That's triple the number who admitted to the activity in a similar poll conducted in Feb. 2008.

The statistics are scary on a number of fronts since recent studies show that texting while driving leads to much higher accident rates.

I'd be curious what TechFlash readers -- who most likely are heavier users of mobile devices (and more frequent commuters) -- have to say on this matter. Offer your two cents in the poll below, and we'll see how we compare to the PEMCO poll.

A study released last month by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that the risk of collisions increased 23 times when truck drivers were engaged in text messages. Meanwhile, a University of Utah study found that texting increased accident risks eight fold.

PEMCO, a large auto insurance company in Seattle, is concerned with the trends especially since texting is more prevalent among young drivers. And they predict even more accidents in the future.

The results of the poll are interesting in part because people admit that the activity is dangerous, with 45 percent of respondents saying that they are more concerned about texting while driving than they are about talking on the cell phone, speeding or driving while tired.

"It's peculiar that while more drivers think texting is dangerous, more drivers are willing to endanger themselves and those around them by tapping out a message," PEMCO spokesman Jon Osterberg said in a press release.

It is illegal to send a text message while driving in Washington state. But it is a secondary offense, which means that the driver must be engaged in another type of illegal activity in order to be pulled over.

Not many people are getting busted for driving while texting. According to a TechFlash report, between Jan. 1 2008 and Dec. 15, 2008, the Washington State Patrol issued 116 tickets and 186 warnings to drivers who were texting.

Interestingly, PEMCO's poll found wide support -- to the tune of 70 percent -- to change the texting law to a primary offense.  

[Flickr photo via Ford]