Texter beware, you could be 'electronically present' and liable if an accident occurs

Sending a text message to a person whom you have reason to believe or know that is driving and who cause an accident in the near proximity of receiving the message would make the sender liable. So held New Jersey Appeals Court. Though the claim of a couple who lost limb in a tragic accident, where a pick up truck collided with their motorbike was lost, the judge held that if it could be proved that the remote texter knew that the person is driving, the person could be liable by creating a new legal responsibility which make the texter electronically present. The liability is explained as “When the sender knows that the text will reach the driver while operating a vehicle, the sender has a relationship to the public who use the roadways similar to that of a passenger physically present in the vehicle. As we have stated, a passenger must avoid distracting the driver. The remote sender of a text who knows the recipient is then driving must do the same." Read more here.