You Can Be Held Liable For Texting Someone That's Driving

"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"
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Did any of you RTFA?

They said a person COULD be held liable if they knew the driver was texting.

In this case the court found the defendant not liable because she didn't know her boyfriend was driving. The court basically laid out the groundwork for these type of lawsuits and the burden of proof required. The court actually made it harder to sue because the person texting needs direct knowledge of behavior which is distracting. Texting is not enough, they need to know the driver is reading the texts. Even knowing someone is driving isn't enough because you must be aware they will read them while driving. That burden is damn near impossible to reach.

The girl was found not liable.

Another fantastic sensationalist headline where no one bothered to actually read the details.
 
It wasn't the act of sending the text that caused the accident it was the act of reading the text that caused the accident. End of Story. Who ever says different is looking for a reason to blame the sender. Most likely the sender of text has money and the causer of accident has no money.
 
southpaw said:
It wasn't the act of sending the text that caused the accident it was the act of reading the text that caused the accident. End of Story. Who ever says different is looking for a reason to blame the sender. Most likely the sender of text has money and the causer of accident has no money.
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Perhaps, but two people lost their legs due to this incident ... maybe we need better laws so they could make the accident causer give them 25% of his income for the rest of his life ... only fair given the damage he caused or sentence him to hard labor with 100% of his income going to the victims ... their lives were changed forever without their permission ... can't blame them for wanting some restitution ...

also, it takes two to tango (as the saying goes) ... and there were many text messages involved here ... I don't necessarily agree the other person is at fault but I don't blame the poor victims for trying to get something from her ... they do deserve their pound of flesh from someone ;)
 
kbrickley said:
Perhaps, but two people lost their legs due to this incident ... maybe we need better laws so they could make the accident causer give them 25% of his income for the rest of his life ... only fair given the damage he caused or sentence him to hard labor with 100% of his income going to the victims ... their lives were changed forever without their permission ... can't blame them for wanting some restitution ...

also, it takes two to tango (as the saying goes) ... and there were many text messages involved here ... I don't necessarily agree the other person is at fault but I don't blame the poor victims for trying to get something from her ... they do deserve their pound of flesh from someone ;)
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Hell, I'll give them a pound of flesh.
 
nutzo said:
What if I'm sitting on a train, or sitting in the passenger seat of a car?
What if I normally turn of GPS to extend the life of my phone battery?
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You don't need GPS to tell if the phone is moving at a decent rate of speed.

And so what if you're on a train and can't receive a text... would you really die to go say a full hour without texting?
 
I'd sooner see breathalyzers in all cars than phones not working above 15mph.
 
I live in the People's Republic of New Jersey. Just another stupid ruling by another stooped judge.

"I swear, I didn't even know he owned a car!" That will be my response.
 
spugnor said:
The only real solution is to ban mobile phones. Seriously, you do NOT need to be in constant contact with everyone all the time. Hell, i remember a time when some people didn't even have a land line in their home! And somehow they managed to live just fine.

Mobile phones are a convenience we have collectively convinced ourselves that we HAVE TO HAVE, and it's an illusion. And i'm sure someone is going to try to claim that it's not possible to have people that can't be reached instantly, and i will simply state this: We managed somehow before pagers and cell phones. We just got lazy.
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Humans did fine without indoor plumbing, computers, cars, plastic, electricity, metallurgy, mathematics, cities, nations, and billions of other things that have been invented, discovered, and created by humans since the start of the species. And they all cause problems. Clearly, then, we need to ban everything and go back to shitting in the woods and become nomadic berry pickers because that's 'only natural'.

Technology is created to augment us as a species and allows us to have the comfortable lives we have. Becoming Luddites because there are problems with technology while ignoring the benefits of said technology is some pretty powerful cognitive dissonance.
 
Can someone with legal knowledge comment about if this will pass muster? A lot of armchair lawyers here who may or may not be right.
 
Coffee is hot. SUE.
Water is wet. It can go in the toaster; KitchenAid knows this, liable!
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Is it up to you to make that decision for me? I'll knife ya.
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Its up to me to make the decision for you that you can't take pain killers and drive a car.

Its up to make to make the decision for you that your front headunit's 7" LCD can't play movies while in motion.

I ride a motorcycle to work virtually every day through Houston traffic. I have never been in an accident in 16 years now, but every close call I've had its been a guy on the cellphone that then waved apologetically or had a "I just shit myself" look on his face when he nearly crushed me.

How many people have to die before we say, "You know what, I can live without texting for 22 minutes on my commute".
 
Ducman69 said:
Its up to me to make the decision for you that you can't take pain killers and drive a car.

Its up to make to make the decision for you that your front headunit's 7" LCD can't play movies while in motion.

I ride a motorcycle to work virtually every day through Houston traffic. I have never been in an accident in 16 years now, but every close call I've had its been a guy on the cellphone that then waved apologetically or had a "I just shit myself" look on his face when he nearly crushed me.

How many people have to die before we say, "You know what, I can live without texting for 22 minutes on my commute".
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This is 'murica, do what everyone else does and buy a big arse truck or SUV if you're too scared of other drivers. :p
 
Ducman69 said:
Its up to me to make the decision for you that you can't take pain killers and drive a car.

Its up to make to make the decision for you that your front headunit's 7" LCD can't play movies while in motion.

I ride a motorcycle to work virtually every day through Houston traffic. I have never been in an accident in 16 years now, but every close call I've had its been a guy on the cellphone that then waved apologetically or had a "I just shit myself" look on his face when he nearly crushed me.

How many people have to die before we say, "You know what, I can live without texting for 22 minutes on my commute".
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I can live without it, but I don't think it's up to you or the government to decide that. I think texting while driving is absolutely idiotic, but there are already reckless driving laws that make reckless driving illegal. People are going to do it, regardless. There will always be danger when operating hunks of metal that are thousands of pounds, hurtling down a strip of pavement at high speeds.
 
Tudz said:
This is 'murica, do what everyone else does and buy a big arse truck or SUV if you're too scared of other drivers. :p
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Oh, you. You know you like it here. Maybe not as much as your home country, but you do like it.
 
F.E.A.R. said:
What? I am not forcing the driver to respond. Common sense is only common to those who have it.
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This!
Exactly how is anyone supposed to know that the other person is driving?
People with common sense have officially become an endangered species. :(
 
so does this mean that when i cross state lines and the state sends me a welcome text that they can be held liable if my driving is crap and I'm stupid enough to look down to read it?
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Oh, you. You know you like it here. Maybe not as much as your home country, but you do like it.
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There are things I like and things I don't like about both countries ;) I just bought a car with a 454 cubic inch engine, I like that about the USA ;)
 
I pull over for calls.
Seriously, I refuse to touch my phone while driving.
I love my phone, but after nearly getting killed by a semi driver on HIS cell that went up and over my car, I can't stand the thought of people not having enough sense to put down the phone while driving.
I'd rather make sure I live without than not live long with.
I just wish these idiots would kill themselves, not others.
 
teh_chem said:
What about the cell phone provider, for enabling the access to texting? Or the phone manufacturer?
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I agree, clearly the carrier was at fault here! :p
 
I know the law is stupid but i would like it to come here to teach my wife a lesson. I swear that woman makes it her mission in life to blow up my damn phone when im driving. Especially if im on the bike, roll up to a stop light and look 7 missed calls...
 
Keep it on silent and you're gold.

If you text while paying attention to the road, I'm actually ok with it. But pretty much no one does... Like you look at it like you look at your mirrors. The people I see texting actually look down and for much longer than a second.
 
F.E.A.R. said:
What? I am not forcing the driver to respond. Common sense is only common to those who have it.
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Common sense is not a gift, its a punishment. Because you have to deal with everyone that doesn't have it.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
I can live without it, but I don't think it's up to you or the government to decide that. I think texting while driving is absolutely idiotic, but there are already reckless driving laws that make reckless driving illegal. People are going to do it, regardless. There will always be danger when operating hunks of metal that are thousands of pounds, hurtling down a strip of pavement at high speeds.
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I think at the end of the day, if drivers are stupid, drivers are stupid. One thing that disturbs me is how dangerously close people drive at speed. You'll see 5 cars cruising along at 80mph barely more than a car length between each one. The other day I had an unmarked cop car following less than a car length behind me at 70mph :eek: I was extremely tempted to just slam on my brakes and let the idiot copper hit me :p Or driving in a sports car I had a huge arse truck following so close that if I downshifted and lifted off the gas without braking, it would have hit me even if it slammed on its brakes.

Now, you have to allow for the odd brain fart moment from yourself and other drivers... but some stuff is just downright dangerous and yet almost everyone does it. Let's not get started on how people don't understand the concept of merging.
 
Serpent said:
Keep it on silent and you're gold.

If you text while paying attention to the road, I'm actually ok with it. But pretty much no one does... Like you look at it like you look at your mirrors. The people I see texting actually look down and for much longer than a second.
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I actually have very little problems with people using a phone and driving. I do have problems with people not understanding when it's bad to use a phone and/or letting it distract them too much.
 
Serpent said:
Keep it on silent and you're gold.

If you text while paying attention to the road, I'm actually ok with it. But pretty much no one does... Like you look at it like you look at your mirrors. The people I see texting actually look down and for much longer than a second.
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How does someone text on their phone and pay attention to the road like how they look at mirrors? You're not just glancing at your phone, but trying to find relative small text, read, comprehend, and type with the virtual keyboard. Besides, mirrors are still generally in your primary field of view while driving. Most people who use their cell phone while driving (the ones I see) are not holding the phone in their primary field of view (most hold it at or below the dash, looking down to use it--completely away from the road), so they are much more oblivious to what's going on in the road during that time.

It's not safe. You might be able to do it without causing an accident. But that still doesn't make it safe. If this were some other situation, like walking while you're texting, and not looking at where you're going, I'm fine with that because the risk of seriously injuring someone else by looking at your phone while walking is negligible. Not true with a vehicle.
 
teh_chem said:
How does someone text on their phone and pay attention to the road like how they look at mirrors? You're not just glancing at your phone, but trying to find relative small text, read, comprehend, and type with the virtual keyboard. Besides, mirrors are still generally in your primary field of view while driving. Most people who use their cell phone while driving (the ones I see) are not holding the phone in their primary field of view (most hold it at or below the dash, looking down to use it--completely away from the road), so they are much more oblivious to what's going on in the road during that time.

It's not safe. You might be able to do it without causing an accident. But that still doesn't make it safe. If this were some other situation, like walking while you're texting, and not looking at where you're going, I'm fine with that because the risk of seriously injuring someone else by looking at your phone while walking is negligible. Not true with a vehicle.
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You totally can text and drive safely under certain circumstances. I'd never say to do it in traffic and/or roads that require a lot of attention.

If you're an idiot and stare at the phone and not look at the road, well der, of course that's dangerous. But if you're competent enough to glance at the car stereo and change stations, you should be competent enough to type a brief text message. Look at phone, type a couple of letters, look at road, check if cars are around you, type a few more letters. It obviously depends where you are... if you run a red or blow through a stop sign or almost run someone over... you were obviously doing it at a time when it was dangerous to do so. But if you're cruising down an interstate and there's not a car within half a mile, it's really not any more dangerous to type out a message than it is to fiddle with your HVAC system or radio or if you have a basic level of competency.

It's obviously a risk that has to be managed, just like driving in rain is a risk, or driving in traffic, or driving home from work while tired, or driving with alcohol in your system (even if you're under the legal limit, it's still a risk). Unfortunately, risk management is a skill that most drivers seem to lack.
 
teh_chem said:
How does someone text on their phone and pay attention to the road like how they look at mirrors? You're not just glancing at your phone, but trying to find relative small text, read, comprehend, and type with the virtual keyboard. Besides, mirrors are still generally in your primary field of view while driving. Most people who use their cell phone while driving (the ones I see) are not holding the phone in their primary field of view (most hold it at or below the dash, looking down to use it--completely away from the road), so they are much more oblivious to what's going on in the road during that time.

It's not safe. You might be able to do it without causing an accident. But that still doesn't make it safe. If this were some other situation, like walking while you're texting, and not looking at where you're going, I'm fine with that because the risk of seriously injuring someone else by looking at your phone while walking is negligible. Not true with a vehicle.
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Wrong.

I don't even need to touch or turn on my phone's screen to send text messages. You can send text messages via bluetooth speech-to-text.
 
canna said:
Wrong.

I don't even need to touch or turn on my phone's screen to send text messages. You can send text messages via bluetooth speech-to-text.
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Did I ever mention speech to text? The other person was talking about actually looking at their phone like you look at mirrors. It's not the same thing.


You guys can create all these scenarios where it's arguably not unsafe to look at or touch your phone, and I probably wouldn't disagree with you. But that's not the point. Most driving laws are to address unsafe conditions, and sadly common sense is bumped out the window when people get distracted, so "you can do this when it's safe" ends up being a very subjective interpretation that it becomes a pain to enforce. So you have to make a universal choice.

I'd rather no one texted while driving than to take the chance that they think they can do it safely and risk being plowed off the road.
 
Ducman69 said:
You don't need GPS to tell if the phone is moving at a decent rate of speed.

And so what if you're on a train and can't receive a text... would you really die to go say a full hour without texting?
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I've been in businesses where losing an hour of communication can cost quite a lot.

I know people that being out of communication for an hour, could cost their corporation hundreds of millions - depending on the timing.

I know people that take the train so that they can conduct business, rather than rock out to 80's synth pop in fucking traffic.

So yes.
 
Arcygenical said:
I've been in businesses where losing an hour of communication can cost quite a lot.

I know people that being out of communication for an hour, could cost their corporation hundreds of millions - depending on the timing.

I know people that take the train so that they can conduct business, rather than rock out to 80's synth pop in fucking traffic.

So yes.
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Then your business is a complete and total failure if it has absolutely no redundancy in place and relies so heavily on a single individual for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Or you're making stuff up because you can't bare to be without a text for your 30 minute commute. *shrugs*
 
And at the VERY LEAST when the device is detected as traveling at a high rate of speed (say 30mph+), many features of the device should be disabled until you click "proceed" on a popup that warns about the legal ramifications of texting and driving, that this is being recorded and can be used against you for liability in a court of law, and a reminder of the death toll that driving+texting has caused.

If even THAT bit of inconvenience is too much for the hipster douchebag that can't live for 30 mins without texting or tweeting some BS, then we really need to start culling large parts of the population.
 
Arcygenical said:
Great. 3 hour battery life here we come.
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You don't need GPS to tell if the phone is moving, it can do this already from cell tower triangulation, no extra battery concern.

These excuses are just that, excuses from people that don't care about the innocent guy in the hospital right now learning to walk because some texting jackass veered out of his lane into oncoming traffic right in front of him.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Labor redundancy in 2013? Yea, you must work in a very stable industry.
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Plan redundancy when texting functionality to a single individual if interrupted for a 30 min commute translates into hundreds of millions of dollars of lost revenue as posted in the (bullshit) example.

Some guy drops his phone by accident or runs out of battery, and hundreds of millions of dollars are lost... yeah, no. BS example is BS.
 
Ducman69 said:
Plan redundancy when texting functionality to a single individual if interrupted for a 30 min commute translates into hundreds of millions of dollars of lost revenue as posted in the (bullshit) example.

Some guy drops his phone by accident or runs out of battery, and hundreds of millions of dollars are lost... yeah, no. BS example is BS.
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The example was a rather large exaggeration, true.
 
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