The victims of the crash caused by the driver who was texting both lost a leg from the accident. However, the victim’s are including the girl who send the text message in the lawsuit.
Barring the fact that yes, anybody can sue anybody for any reason, how much legal basis is there for this suit?
It seems to me that sending text while I’m at home is not a crime. I don’t know what the recipient is doing. And even if, as the girl who sent the text admitted, she did know the recipient was driving, it could have just been a note to him when he arrived at his destination.
If they can sue the girl, why not the smart phone company? I mean, with GPS they know that phone was travelling faster than a person can walk, therefore this person is in a vehicle. Hold the text message until the person comes to a stop.
The article says that the plaintiffs claim the sender knew her boyfriend (the driver) was driving and that they exchanged 62 text messages.
It’s a civil suit, not a criminal case, but it seems that the analogy they are attempting to make is to a bartender who serves someone he knows is drunk. It’ll be up to a jury to decide whether what the defendant did made her liable for the accident.
If she is named as a co-defendant, she is a Joint-Tortfeasor, meaning the actions of more than 1 were the basis of the injury. If she knew he was driving, did she have an affirmitive duty not to text repeatedly? The defense team will no doubt cite case law that she was not negligent in any way, the courts will decide if a duty was breached.
Per the Rules of Civil Procedure in any state, you simply can’t name a person a DF without a basis in law.
If anyone sues for just “any reason”, they risk a counter suit for Abuse of Process.
Thank you. I hadn’t thought too much about the repeatedly. I’m still not comfortable with her being part of the suit, but if the judges say it’s so, then I won’t complain.
If ruled she did have a duty not to text, when does that duty end? When he tells her, “Okay, I’ve reached my destination, we can text again?” At a time period after she knows he usually arrives at his destination? Will the judge also have to decide that?
If she is at the Deposition stage, obviously her attorney could not get her dismissed as a defendant. This is not an automatic judgment against her though.
If it is a bench trial, the Judge decides conclusions of law. If there is a Jury, they decide it on instructions from the court, maybe if damages need to be assigned, as an example 30% for her, 70% for the driver, etc., on the basis of contributory/comparitive negligence, etc.