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BY MALLORY PERRYMAN
Can you be held liable for a car crash because you sent a text message to the driver who
caused it? That’s what a judge in New Jersey is going to decide this week. WFMY has the
background on the lawsuit.
“Back in 2009 in New Jersey, David and Linda Kubert were riding their motorcycle down this
road when a distracted driver sideswiped them. The crash cost both of them their left legs.”
The couple is suing the driver who caused the crash — but they’re also looking to
sue the driver’s girlfriend, who pushed send on the text message that moved the man’s
eyes from the road, to the phone.
WMAR talked to the attorney arguing on behalf of the crash victims. He explains their side
of the case.
“It is as if you are putting your hands over the eyes of the driver preventing that
driver from seeing ahead of them.”
A blogger for MSNBC has the other side of the argument — saying, it’s hard to hold
someone responsible for a wreck when that person wasn’t behind the wheel. For example...
“Lawyers around the nation have repeatedly tried and failed to make passengers partly
responsible for accidents caused by drunken drivers when passengers knowingly get into
a car with an intoxicated driver.”
A legal analyst tells CBS — there is no precedent for holding the sender of a text
liable for an accident. And if the judge rules that the texter is an accessory to the crash,
it could have sweeping implications.
Rikki Kleiman (legal analyst): “You can extend this kind of liability. I mean that
would stop texting all together. Do we want to know if someone is walking down the street
and they are going to walk into traffic? Is that person who sends the text responsible?
I mean where does it end?
The driver of the vehicle has already pleaded guilty to using a handheld cell phone while
driving, failure to maintain a lane, and careless driving. The judge is expected to rule in
the next few days whether the text-sender can be named in the civil suit.