Texting and Driving Should be Illegal

Thanks for the response Pro, -Benefits vs Risk- It should be noted that Pro has not refuted the "Benefits" that out weight the extremely conservative risk of 0.6%. Keep in mind that this statistic assumes that there are 660,000 attempted texts each day. This is not the reality. The source even states "at any given time" not the whole day, so we can actually assume that 660,000 attempted texts are actually sent nearly every minute if we wanted. Being conservative, lets pretend these number of texts are at their peek between 8am-6pm. Let us re-evalute for an even more accurate percentage/ratio now. 10 hour x 60 minutes = 600 minutes. If 660,000 texts are attempting to being sent, this comes out to be around 396 million attempted texts sent each day. Multiply this by 365 to get the total number of texts a year comes out to be 144 billion. Considering only 1,600,000 accidents a year due to texting, this means that only 1 in nearly 100,000 (rounding up) texts result in an accident. This is a much more realistic number considering that multiple people are sending multiple texts every minute. Again the source bases these numbers off of "cellular phone use" not just texting, further driving the number of accidents caused by texting down. I have given a prima facie example (your child dying) as to why a 1 in 100,000 risk of getting into a car crash is a reasonable risk to take. When considering what an incredibly important message may be trying to be communicated to us over text while were driving, it makes sense to take this risk. The number of people who die from simply riding there bicycle are about 1 in 104,000. [1]. However we don't take this right away to ride bikes, I will evaluate further on this in a bit. -Freedom- Pro needs to show that this tiny risk can justifiably take away our freedom to do texting while driving. He has not done this except for stating that he finds it frustrating and it increases your risk of being in an accident, These two reasons are not sufficient to make texting while driving punishable by law. We do not make it criminal to ride a bicycle just because it increases your chances of dying from 1 in 1,000,000 (running) ,to 1 in 100,000 (bike riding). Yes the risk is there, but the vast, vast majority of people do not get in an accident. John Stuart Mill theorized that "The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good, in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it."[2] Sending texts at the appropriate times will driving is in no way infringing on anyone's right to drive. Being a neglectful driver may infringe on your rights by putting you in danger, but this is a separate issue. Pro agrees that things like the putting on of pants or make-up also results an increased risk, and I agree, but to make it a criminal offense would be absurd. We would have people being pulled over or arrested just because he missed breakfast and needs to eat on his way to work. -Privilege Vs Responsibility- Pro asks us "Why else would a person be required to pass a written, and driving test prior to receiving their license?" The key problem with this idea which assumes that driving is a responsibility, is that Pro thinks the government requires people to take a mandatory test. This is not true though. No one has to take this supposed responsibility, one can simply, not drive. The idea that people need to pass tests (to show their ability) proves that only people privileged with this ability to do these things may drive. This must be a privilege. Conclusion: It seems that me and pro both agree that people who drive while texting at an inappropriate time put others at a risk for danger. I never dispute this. However most people don't do this. The vast majority of people who text and drive don't result in accidents in the first place. My sympathies go out to Pro and anyone else who has to deal with a neglectful driver, however, I don't believe I should be given some sort of penalty simply for checking my phone when something as important as an emergency may be occurring on the other side of the line. The resolution is negated. [1]http://www.besthealthdegrees.com... [2]http://www.brainyquote.com...