A new survey commissioned by mobile messaging service Pinger, conducted by Harris Interactive polled 2,049 adults online, revealing interesting results about texting and driving.

Nine of ten Americans (89 percent)  believe that texting messages or emailing while driving is dangerous and distracting and should even be banned, furthermore, 91% compare the jeopardy it implies to that of driving after one has had a couple of drinks. What is astonishing is that two in three drivers (66 percent) admit reading text messages or emails while behind the wheel and also 57 percent admitted to sending text messages or emails while driving.

"We all know that distracted driving is dangerous, especially when drivers take their eyes off the road to text message," said Greg Woock, CEO of Pinger. "But, as these numbers show, people want to stay connected when they're on the go. Pinger allows drivers to be productive in a way that's safer."

The perils of this activity while driving are currently invoked by state governments, going to even banning it, like the case of state of Washington. The state adopted a law, the first in the country, in January. In Washington state, drivers caught texting face tickets and $101 fines.

Six other states are taking into consideration similar legislation, including New York, California and Florida.

The survey shows that neither men nor women are more innocent when it comes to texting while driving, the rates of the two categories being equal.

However, age makes the difference:  64 percent of those admitting sending text messages or emails while driving were aged 18 to 34, while just 6 percent were older than 55 years.

The poll was conducted from The 29th of June to the 3rd of July, giving the survey a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.