Let’s say you know your girlfriend is driving on Route 981. Despite knowing that she is driving, you text her several times.
Because she is distracted by your texts, she slams into the back of tractor-trailer truck and is killed.
If a recent opinion from a Lawrence County, Pennsylvania judge is any indication, anyone sending a text message might now be found liable for accidents on Pennsylvania roads, if they knowingly divert a driver’s attention.
In Gallatin v. Gargiulo, Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas Judge John W. Hodge, in an apparent issue of first impression, allowed negligence and wrongful-death claims to proceed against two men who were texting a female driver who was involved in a fatal accident.
The opinion follows a 2013 ruling from a New Jersey appeals court that established for the first time in the country a cause of action against those who knowingly distract drivers by sending text messages.
Attorneys said the Lawrence County ruling, despite being narrowly tailored and coming only at the preliminary objections stage, will allow accident victims an additional avenue to pursue recovery (civil damages).
According to Attorney Joel Feldman, third-party negligence in a motor vehicle accident is a logical extension of a procession of litigation seeking to hold drivers accountable for their distractions.
The bottom line is this: Don’t text and drive. If someone texts you and you know they are driving, do not distract them by sending them a responding text.
