Study: 1 In 3 Americans Text And Drive

[AtheistCrusader]

139. The analogy fails, and must fail.

I can text on a phone while driving on an unoccupied road. No one but myself at risk. Your analogy requires I point a gun at another human being (a felony, loaded or unloaded, not to mention justification of deadly force in response to my action, if the person I am pointing it at reasonably apprehends a grave risk to their safety) and cannot be applied to a situation where I am alone.

I think the carrying Condition 1/2 analogy, while not perfect, is much closer, in that if a negligent discharge does occur, property damage or something like that can still occur when alone. I offered it in good faith, because there are strong parallels to potential negligence while driving due to distractions, rather than felonious behavior (brandishing).

"the bottom line is that you alone have concluded that your use of a cellphone to text while driving, no matter how minimally you do so, is an acceptable risk to take."

Under some conditions, yes. This is accurate. I have outlined several conditions under which I will not.

" You simply will not be convinced otherwise. Studies presented are not good enough."

One of the studies that purported to show the risks actually showed a mixed bag of good and bad. Reduced reaction time (bad), and increased following distance (good). I'm willing to discuss that. So far you have not responded to the UO study data, or really any other study.

"The only way it appears that you will accept it is risky enough to stop is after something tragic occurs."

Again, your arguments apply to the very simple act of driving a car at all. So this is not terribly meaningful rhetoric even before we get to the subject of texting.