Texting while driving is a more dangerous driving activity than drinking and driving, according to a new study from King’s College in Pennsylvania.

Business Insider revealed that four out of five college student drivers were guilty of texting while driving despite most recognizing the risk.

(That’s right, 80 percent.)

Previous research has also demonstrated that texting can slow down driver reaction times, and that in all, 50 percent of adults have admitted to doing it at some point or another.

College and high school types, however, were 30 percent more likely to take part in the deadly activity, and that’s despite the fact that it kills 3,000 teens each year, compared to 2,700 fatalities brought on by drinking and driving.

(Seriously, young people, you wonder why auto insurance companies are so horrible to you guys? It’s behaviors like this.)

But is anyone learning from the research? Is anyone even aware of the extent of the dangers?

Apparently, it’s “no” to the first, and “yes” to the second, which somehow makes everything worse.

The official research, entitled, “An exploratory study of psychological tendencies related to texting while driving,” pointed out that most young people are aware of the dangers, but have a tendency to think they handle the dangers better than everyone else.

“There seems to be a mentality that use of electronic devices is dangerous for everyone but ‘me,’” said researchers Garold Lantz and Sandra Loeb of the McGowan School of Business in a joint statement.

BI adds that the risk of getting into a wreck while sending texts is as much as 23 times the normal accident rate, and that studies on multitasking indicate at any given moment, the human brain allows one to focus on a single task, while so-called “multitaskers” are simply better at switching seamlessly between the two activities.

Lately, states have been lowering the boom on texting drivers. In September, New York governor Andrew Cuomo spoke out publicly on the topic. Also last month, we brought you the story of a bus driver who was busted sending texts while on the job.

Have you ever been guilty of texting while driving?

[Image via ShutterStock]