Texting And Driving In John Stuart Mill's On Liberty

The United States of America blesses us with the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of petition, and many others. We have the liberty to choose our own actions, but should that liberty allow us to choose actions that could potentially take away other people’s freedoms? In his book On Liberty, Philosopher John Stuart Mill says a person can do whatever they want as long as is does not harm others. If a person’s actions only affects the individual, society and the government have no right to intervene. Only when someone’s actions become harmful to others should it should be stopped. This idea is known throughout the book as the harm principle. Mill’s philosophy can still be applied to many

"A person who is texting can be as impaired as a driver who is legally drunk," said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral studies at Cohen Children's Medical Center. Texting drivers are four times slower to hit the brakes than those impaired by alcohol. He pointed out that a texting driver is distracted from the movement of traffic and even the functions of their own vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that at any given moment across the United States, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or using electronic devices while driving. Researchers at Cohen Children’s Medical Center calculate more than 3,000 teen deaths every year nationwide from texting and about 300,000 injuries. In the last few years texting while driving has increased dramatically. "50% of high school students admit to texting and driving”, said Adesman. Studies show that texting and driving increases with age. A surprisingly low 24% of 15-year-olds claim to send texts while driving, compared to 58% of 18-year-olds. Overall, statistics show that if you are communicating by a text while driving you are 23 times more likely to be in a