Jersey Court: Don’t Send Texts to Drivers, Or Else


CBS Local reports that a New Jersey court has ruled a state prohibition on driving-while-texting can be used against individuals who sent texts to friends while the friends were driving.

As CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reported Tuesday night, the decision stemmed from a 2009 accident where a 17-year-old girl texted a friend just before that friend crashed his pickup truck into a Morris County couple on a motorcycle.

The man and woman on the motorcycle, David and Linda Kubert, both lost parts of their legs. They sued not only the truck’s driver, but also the girl who was texting him.

On Tuesday, a state Appeals Court ruled that the girl in that particular case could not be held liable. But it also ruled “that a person sending text messages has a duty not to text someone who is driving if the texter knows, or has special reason to know, the recipient will view the text while driving.”

It’s not just a driver’s responsibility not to check their text messages, in other words: If you know I’m on the road and you text me, you could get in trouble if I get into an accident for paying attention to you. So be careful.