I'm sure we've all done this before. Have you ever texted a friend or family member whom you knew to be driving a car at the time? What if that text you sent caused the person to read it, be distracted and cause a car crash? Do you think YOU should be responsible for sending the text knowing that the recipient was driving at the time? A recent Court of Common Pleas decision in Lawrence County Pennsylvania suggests that perhaps you should be held responsible.
This case is another example of the evolving law of distracted driving-- or texting while driving. In Gallatin v. Gargiulo, the Court of Common Pleas Judge overruled preliminary objections and allowed negligence and wrongful death claims to proceed against two defendants on the basis that they had been texting a driver as the driver crashed into a motorcyclist, resulting in the motorcyclist’s death. The judge relied upon a 2013 decision out of the State of New Jersey, Kubert v. Best, wherein an appellate level court specifically allowed such a cause of action to proceed.
In the New Jersey case, the appellate court held that in order to proceed with a claim against the sender of a text message a plaintiff must prove that the sender of the text knew, or had special reason to know, that the recipient was driving and would view the text while driving and be distracted by it. The Pennsylvania judge specifically relied upon the New Jersey case in allowing the Pennsylvania action to move forward.
It remains to be seen how the law will evolve in Pennsylvania and whether or not this type of claim will withstand scrutiny in the appeal courts. The bottom line is that you should not text and drive or text someone you know is driving and might read your texts. Distracted driving is the cause of a significant amount of injuries on Bucks County and Pennsylvania roads.
If you or a loved one was injured in car or truck accident, please call the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.
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