CMV: if your friend texts while driving you should pressure them to stop

Wikipedia gives the overall impression that it's as bad or worse than driving while intoxicated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texting_while_driving

One time in college my housemate came home from a work shift and gleefully mentioned that he had driven home drunk. Everyone within earshot replied with unambiguous condemnation.

If your friend admits that they constantly text while driving, it is an underreaction to not express strong disapproval. For comparison, think of what reaction is appropriate if you find out that someone is stealing bikes or scamming old people on craigslist or abusing their pets or knowingly transmitting STDs--hopefully one wouldn't just laugh and forget about it.

If you text and drive, you might kill or paralyze a kid that you otherwise wouldn't have. This should be treated as high risk and morally reprehensible behavior. We don't have to just sheepishly accept that everyone does it, like leaving out dirty dishes or eating too much sugar.

Things that might change my view include alternate calculations of risk vs reward, alternate interpretations responsibility, evidence that peer-pressure does not work well for norm enforcement, evidence of unintended consequences, reasons why I should shift emphasis from "don't harm innocents" to "don't put yourself at legal risk", or reasons why I should save my breath for something more important.

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(Background: yesterday it occurred to me that I don't know how frequently I interact with people who have caused auto fatalities. It's not something that ever comes up in conversation. I guess those people just walk around with an emotional albatross for the rest of their life, and this is part of their punishment. Seems like the punishment does not lead to much deterrence though. Hence the need to be more proactive about disincentivizing bad behavior.)