It’s plain old common sense that you shouldn’t use your cell phone while driving your car or truck. You might think that you can multitask, talking or texting from your phone while driving down a motorway, but the statistics don’t back you up. The reality is that you’re 23 times more likely to have an accident if you’re distracted by your cell phone, even if that’s just for a few seconds.
The law is quite clear about cell phone misuse while driving, and courts come down heavily against any defendant who causes accidental injury or death because they were distracted by a phone call or text message. Recent changes to state laws now allow prison sentences for anyone found guilty of causing a car accident due to cell phone misuse.
But where does the law stand on the liability of the person sending texts to the driver of a car or truck? Are you aiding and abetting criminal negligence by knowingly sending a text to the driver of a vehicle who is then involved in an accident?
The ‘Kubert’s vs. Best’ Case
This debate arose from a lawsuit arising out of an accident in 2009 caused by Kyle Best. While driving his vehicle, Best became distracted by a text sent to him by his girlfriend, Sharon Colonna. Klye’s momentary lapse of concentration caused him to drive into traffic, striking a motorcycle driven by David and Linda Kubert. This resulted in horrific, but not life-threatening, injuries to the couple.
In addition to their lawsuit against Best, the Kubert’s also sued his girlfriend for sending him a text when she knew he was driving a vehicle on a busy road.
The Outcome
The Kubert’s attempt to sue Ms. Colonna for being a factor in causing the accident was dismissed by the court, but only because they could not establish that the young woman in question sent the text knowing that her boyfriend was driving at the time. This is despite the fact that Best usually received approximately 100 text messages from Colonna each day, so it was likely that she had been in some part responsible for the accident.
What judges Ashrafi, Espinosa and Guadango did put forward at the conclusion of the case in August 2013, is a comment that there are legal grounds for holding a remote person knowingly sending a text to any person operating a vehicle equally responsible for an accident caused by the driver becoming distracted.
The Future
There are over 400,000 accidents each year caused by drivers distracted by their cell phone, either speaking on it or reading and replying to text messages. This is an almost vertical trend, with more cases each year, so although there are no laws that can find a remote texter legally liable for an accident caused by a text they sent, the courts will eventually need to tackle this issue.