Never text while on wheels ~ and even Sender might be liable....

This morning at Thiruvanmiyur signal, a two wheeler rider was busy checking (tampering with) his mobile placed on petrol tank – signal changed – the bus driver nearer horned impatiently – the man with earplugs on, was busy looking at his mobile – the annoyed driver let out some expletives – the boy moved on, still exhibiting no sense and not connected to the road and traffic – vexatious behaviour. ( and he is not alone – there are so many out there in public places)

Some use technology – while many get addicted and allow technology to become their boss.  Any system is good only when it is properly used. About a couple of decades ago, only elites had landlines at home. People coming to make free calls at neighbouring residence and people speaking non-stop in Office lines made very popular jokes. Life has changed …….. now so many carry more than a mobile or have dual sims on their mobiles. People generally speaking – are speaking all the time.

To most the mobile besides being a medium for talking (continuously all the time) – is an utility for sending messages (both audio and video), for games, for taking photos (for posting on social media), listening to music with ears plugged and attention glued elsewhere.  There are service providers who offer unlimited SMS packages which are a hit with users.  It’s common knowledge that texting and driving is a bad idea – do you know that in a number of jurisdictions abroad it is illegal. New Jersey is one of them.

It might appear strange to us – US laws are different and exhibit far outstretched thinking …… while texting while driving for sure is bad – there reported is a case in New Jersey about ‘extended testing’ – that is knowingly texting a person who is on wheels.  Can there be a liability ?

This pertains to an incident that occurred way back in 2009 in a rural high way. The driver behind the pickup truck was a teenager and was dating one, who was an year younger.  They reportedly exchanged 62 texts that day according to court documents. In the opposing lane a man and his wife were cruising in a motorcycle. The teens were having a text chat, volleying each other messages every few moments. Seventeen seconds after the youngboy sent a text, he was calling a 911 operator. His truck had drifted across the double center line and hit the motorcyclist  head-on.

Those on the twowheeler were severely injured with fractures.  The victim losing legs sued not only the opposite vehicle but also the person who had texted to the driver.  It was claimed that the texter was distracting the driver and hence was also a party to the accident.   The plaintiff went on to state that the text sender was electronically in the car with the driver receiving the text and should be treated like someone sitting next to him willfully causing a distraction. 

In principle, there appears to be some agreement as it was ruled that  if the sender of text messages knows that the recipient is driving and texting at the same time, a court may hold the sender responsible for distraction and hold him or her liable for the accident. The sender of messages is reported to be in the habit of sending more than 100 texts a day and was oblivious to whether recipients were driving or not. She nonchalantly stated in her deposition  that she is a young teenager and that’s what they do. 

The Court also ruled that driver is ultimately responsible and has the obligation to keep eyes on the road, hands on the wheel and pay attention to what one is expected to doing.  It is imperative that States crack down on texting while driving and punish errants hard.  Elsewhere in a different ruling, the Ninth Circuit held that a marketing consultant that hired a firm to send text messages for a third party could also be held vicariously liable for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). 

~ and how responsible are you on road …. More than responsibility, ensure that you are in a position to respond to outside environ all the time. Never have your senses of hearing and vision blinded by any distraction, be it technology or otherwise.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

15^th Oct 2014