N.J. judge: Text sender not liable in car crash
The scene of a horrific accident in Mine Hill, N.J., where on September 21, 2009 a distracted driver hit a motorcycle head-on. / CBS News
(CBS/AP) MORRISTOWN, N.J. - A New Jersey woman who sent a text message to her boyfriend cannot be held liable for a car crash he caused while responding to the message.
A judge made that decision Friday in state Superior Court in Morris County.
A lawyer for David and Linda Kubert had argued that text messages from Shannon Colonna to Kyle Best played a role in a 2009 wreck that cost his clients their legs.
On September 21, 2009, the Kuberts were riding their motorcycle in Mine Hill, N.J. A Chevy truck swerved across the center line and hit them head-on.
David Kubert said as the truck approach he could see the driver "steering with his elbows, with his head down. And I could tell he was text messaging."
Both Kuberts were seriously injured when Best crashed into their motorcycle. David Kubert had his left leg torn off above the knee, while Linda Kubert eventually had her left leg amputated.
"This is a senseless crash that didn't have to happen," David Kubert told CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.
But Colonna's lawyer said she had no control over when Best would read and respond to the message.
The case is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.
Suing the sender? Distracted driving lawsuit blames both texters for crash
Kyle Best, then 18, pleaded guilty to three motor vehicle violations, including using a handheld device while driving.
The Kuberts are now suing him for civil damages as a distracted driver, and in a novel twist also sued his girlfriend for sending him text messages while he was driving, thus distracting him. Phone records show they exchanged 62 texts that day.
Skippy Weinstein, the Kuberts' lawyer, argues Colonna was "electronically present" in the crash. He says she should have known Best was driving home as they exchanged text messages leading up to the crash. She says she "may have known" he was driving.
"What I find interesting was her testimony at depositions was that she answered by saying, 'This is what teenagers do,'" Weinstein said.
Thirty-eight states have banned texting behind the wheel. Government statistics say 24 percent of vehicle crashes can be attributed to phone use while driving.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Tsarnaev friend implicates dead brother, self in murders 151 Comments
- Victims of deadly Oklahoma tornado 6 Photos
- Up-close video of Moore, Okla., tornado Play Video
- Oklahoma tornado as seen by storm chasers Play Video
- Tornado's destructive path 17 Photos
- AG Holder: Drones killed 4 Americans since 2009
- Tornado victims start picking up the pieces
- Over 50 injured following Ind. school buses crash
Therefore, if the party sending the text messages KNOWS that the receiver is driving, then they ARE a party to the accident, and therefore guilty also.
Whenever I call a friend, I always ask if he or she is driving. If so, I immediately say, "call me back when you get there, bye!".
Ludicrous.
This man's girlfriend SHOULD NOT be held accountable because she didn't KNOW that her boyfriend would look at/respond to her text right away and without doing so in a safe manner!
Respectfully, your logic is misguided. Suppose for a second that you let your teen child take your car out for the night and he/she is involved in an accident that injures or, even WORSE, kills someone. Should YOU be held accountable for that. You did supply the means to this end after all. You KNEW that your child could very well be involved in this accident, yet you let them take you car anyway. Is it your fault? HELL NO!!!
The accident would be no more your fault than that of this woman for sending a text message!
----------------------------
all straw men arguments ... and have nothing to do w/ an interactive exchange between two parties real time while he was driving ... meaning both parties created the condition of distraction that led to this incident.
the driver and his girlfriend exchanged over 60 messages that day ... he acknowledged he was reading one of them from her when he hit the victims head on after swerving into the oncoming lane.
he paid a $750 fine ... and still has his license.
the two people he hit both lost a leg.
does anything seem wrong with that to you?
As for the guy texting, when you operate a motor vehicle, the only communication devices you have *any* business using are the horn and turn signals.
Ironically, most people don't seem to know how to use either correctly.
The driver is the one driving ..That driver needs to read the driver's manual for the state she/he lives in..
When I walk the family dog and I do as a blind person..The phone at home..The Notebook PC is at home..I have my white cane and the dog on a lease..I don't even know what texting is. The phone I use for voice..