While it's not illegal to talk on your phone while driving in most areas, it sure is dangerous. Now, the National Safety Council is telling us just how dangerous it is.

In their annual injury and fatality report, the NSC found that 26 percent of car accidents in the United States involved the use of a cellphone. It's an increase from last year.

Drivers are constantly reminded that texting and driving is dangerous, but only 5 percent of crashes involving a cellphone involves texting. Most of the accidents occur when someone is talking on the phone.

Hands free headsets and earpieces are supposed to increase driving performance for those who choose to talk on the phone while driving, but according to a report it rarely helps and drivers are still distracted.

Additionally, drivers are using voice-to-text programs to help them text while driving, but this actually takes longer than a traditional text message according to the NSC and Texas A&M.

Already in 2014, there's been an estimated 245,358 car crashes involving distracted drivers on their cell phones, according to the NSC.

The NSC says the reasons for these crashes is increased reaction time, which they say is nearly identical with or without hands-free devices.

Along with Nationwide Insurance, the NSC seeked to find the most accurate number of traffic fatalities involving cellphones using data from 2011. They found that 350 crashes involved cellphones that year.

The NSC also mentioned that more and more drivers are being spotted using their phones.

Currently, 12 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, consider it illegal to use a handheld device while driving. Forty-three states have banned texting and driving, and in 38 of those states, if a police officer sees a driver texting, they can pull the driver over.