The couple is suing not only Kyle but his girlfriend whom they allege knew that Kyle was driving yet still exchanged text messages with him.
The couple’s lawyer argues that Kyle’s girlfriend was “electronically present” for the accident and “aided and abetted” Kyle’s illegal texting messaging. The lawyer also points to the fact that the couple had “ping ponged” 62 text messages that day. Driving and texting is illegal in New Jersey.
While I think this is a creative argument, I do not believe that a text sender should be a liable for the negligent behavior of the recipient driver. The sender was not directly involved in the accident and the driver needs to be held accountable for his actions. The illegal act was solely the recipient’s conduct, not the senders.
A text message sender should reasonably be allowed to assume that the recipient will only read and respond to a text message when it is safe and legal to do so.
What do you think?