Texting while driving has become as synonymous with safety concerns as not drinking and driving. Every year more and more people die as a result of a driver's negligence to try and operate both a cell phone and a moving vehicle. Now a New Jersey Court is cracking down on the issue from the other side of the line.
The Daytona Daily News reports a couple hit by a teen that was texting and driving sued both him and the teen girl he was texting with at the time of the accident. The courts ruling on the matter may surprise some people.
"We hold that the sender of a text message can potentially be liable if an accident is caused by texting, but only if the sender knew or had special reason to know that the recipient would view the text while driving and thus be distracted," the court said, via CNN.
In this case, the teenage girl was reportedly cleared of the charge in the case, but the judges are basically now saying it is illegal to text someone if you know they'll receive the message while driving. If you do, you could be deemed electronically present and may be held responsible for any ensuing accidents or deaths.
The biggest issue that will come from this ruling is proving that a person had prior knowledge that the recipient of a text would be driving at the time. Does this mean people on prolonged road trips will not be allowed to receive texts ever? Many wonder why the burden is on the person sending the text and not the person receiving it to simply ignore it until he or she is in a safe enough place to read its contents.
Tell us where you stand. Should the person sending the text be held liable or just the person who reads it while driving?
