It was bound to happen. A lawsuit against the texter for distracting a driver who crashed into a motorcycle.
A young couple who had started to date exchanged over 60 text messages while the male was driving. Distracted by a text (I wonder what the paramour wrote), he crashed into a motorcycle severely injuring two persons.
The trial court dismissed the claim against the texter. However, the motorcyclists appealed. And now a New Jersey appellate court is struggling to answer the question of liability for the texter.
The case raises significant issues. From a workplace perspective I wonder if the company can be held liable if its employee knows that another person is driving, and the employee, as part of his/her job, sends a text message distracting the driver.
Read about the case here.