When you text someone, how do you know you are putting someone in danger?
Slavery is not dead in America. Everyone is one judge’s decision away from being a slave to another citizen for life.
There are distractions while driving a car--a bee can enter an open window, a rock can hit and crack a windshield, and a warning light can appear suddenly on the dashboard. All can be distractions, but it is up to the driver alone to maintain control.
I guess the *girlfriend* wore the pants in that relationship... at least, the pants with the *deepest pockets*.
But IMO, texting while driving should be illegal, period, end of story.
I tried to do it a few times in the past. It's scary. I'll never do it again.
Pull over and THEN text.
common sense was lost long before the legs were
Stoopit lawsuit and should be dismissed.
Sad outcome though.
That a ridiculous stretch.../sigh.
Her parents must have money
So, do we get to sue a billboard company in NJ if we look at it and have an accident?
The lawsuit against the girlfriend is an outrage. It is the DRIVER’S responsibility to avoid distractions.
She may or may not have known he was driving, but he could have been just as easily distracted by a text from someone who had no idea he was driving. Also, if you text someone while they are driving, you should be able to assume that they won’t read it while driving.
The lawyer’s “electronically present” argument is also a crock. If someone is sitting in the passenger seat, while I am driving and says, “Hey, look at this?” or “Read this?” and I take my eyes off the road to look at it, and an accident results, it is MY fault, not the passenger’s.
It would be different if the passenger created a distraction I could not avoid, by covering my eyes or waving something in front of my face while I was driving, but a text message is nothing like that.
An incoming text message is only a distraction if the driver CHOOSES to break the law and disregard safety to read it.
“A New Jersey college student who was exchanging text messages with her boyfriend right before he crashed into a motorcycling couple won’t be held responsible for the accident, a judge ruled yesterday.”