In NJ, someone sending a text to a driver can be liable for auto accident

[Jerchap2]

Disagreeing with a lower court ruling, a New Jersey appeals court said that the sender of a text can be held liable if the recipient of the text gets into an accident if they are texting while driving.


The court said that "when the sender knows that the text will reach the driver while operating a vehicle, the sender has a relationship to the public who use the roadways similar to that of a passenger physically present in the vehicle. “[T]he texter has a duty to users of the public roads to refrain from sending the driver a text at that time."

Well, see how long that supposed high bar lasts before some trial lawyer twists and abuses it.



Senders of Texts to Drivers Can Be Held Liable, Court Rules - Law Blog - WSJ

 

[CathyInBlue]

You send a text to a driver who, while reading it, plows through a crosswalk full of orphans and nuns. Who has the burden of proof vis-a-vis, the sender's knowledge the recipient was operating a motor vehicle?

 

[Jerchap2]

You send a text to a driver who, while reading it, plows through a crosswalk full of orphans and nuns. Who has the burden of proof vis-a-vis, the sender's knowledge the recipient was operating a motor vehicle?

My point exactly. It will be abused.