Girl Sued For Her Boyfriend's Texting-While-Driving Accident

[Zack Alklazaris]

Its not her fault. My wife knows not to give me long giant essays of text to read, but even when she does (AKA when I made a boo boo) and I know its smart if I respond right away I pull over and flip on the hazards.

I do text and drive, I freely admit its a bad idea even if I haven't had a single close call yet. Yet I keep doing because its my choice. As in the choice of the person with the phone in his hand.

Yeh, and it's also the choice of the person you plow into because you weren't paying atte... wait no, it wasn't their choice at all, they're just suffering because of your choice.

Unless i'm reading you wrong or something, please go hand in your license, you clearly aren't responsible enough to be behind the wheel of 2 tons of metal.

Yeah your reading it right and its not illegal where I live so yes I can do it. I don't read more than a sentence of text and I do it when I'm at a stop light or in slow traffic. I also don't type looking down, I use T9word on my keypad (yes an actual keypad). I'm not saying I'm a safe text driver (as there is no such thing), but I'm a safer driver. My only accident was when I was at a dead stop and a drug addict plowed into me going 55.

Honestly I think its the smart phones. Texting deaths really didn't go up till they came out. I can see why, you can't feel the buttons and people can send much larger texts. I think my 5 year old (dumb?) phone is fine.

 

[Lilani]

Yeah your reading it right and its not illegal where I live so yes I can do it. I don't read more than a sentence of text and I do it when I'm at a stop light or in slow traffic. I also don't type looking down, I use T9word on my keypad (yes an actual keypad). I'm not saying I'm a safe text driver (as there is no such thing), but I'm a safer driver. My only accident was when I was at a dead stop and a drug addict plowed into me going 55.

Honestly I think its the smart phones. Texting deaths really didn't go up till they came out. I can see why, you can't feel the buttons and people can send much larger texts. I think my 5 year old (dumb?) phone is fine.

Not to say we all don't do distracting things while driving, but I'm afraid no matter what you say there isn't much of a way to make it something that's "okay" enough to be worth defending here.

 

[Artina89]

No I don't think it is her fault. He had no obligation to text her back straight away, he could have waited until he got home before texting back. Thats my two cents anyway.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Nope nope nope. People should know not to text while driving, whatever the circumstances. It's the boyfriend's fault and no one elses. No one made him pick up the phone, no one made him read the text, no one made him respond. He did it, it's his fault.

 

[DeepComet5581]

Does the plaintiff have a reasonable case?

Short answer: No

Long Answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

How the fuck was she supposed to know he was driving? All the blame should go to him, not her. I shudder to think what kind of legal precedent it would set if the plaintiff won?

Even if she did know he was driving, she probably didn't expect him to try and reply.

I NEVER answer my phone while driving, even if i'm expecting an improtant call. I'll either find somewhere to park or wait until the end of the journey.

The stupid tosser shouldn't have been trying to text while driving - simple. HE committed the illegal act and should be fined.

 

[Dr Jones]

So whatcha think folks? Another frivolous lawsuit (i.e. hot coffee in the lap) or is there a genuine case here?

*beep* Wrong! That was not a frivolous lawsuit. That was a case of coffee being kept way above what could possibly be considered a safe temperature for any human being. It wasn't just a case of some dumb american not realising coffee was hot. If you keep coffee just tetering on the brink of turning into plasma, you can't just pipe "You shoulda realized it was hot!" when someone gets scalded.

Wow, just completely ignore the actual topic and go after something the OP said in parenthesis, eh? That takes a special kind of jackass. My hat is off to you, good sir.

Captcha agrees: "You're Not Listening."

It is pretty OT if you mention it as an example. That means it is related to the topic, and if it's an error, it's a pretty big one. Better edit it out. Though I guess the way he went about informing it was rather douchebaggy.

 

[Antari]

The only possible way she can be held partially responsible is if she explicitly knew that he was texting while driving and she sent him a message knowing that he is going to reply while driving.

Even in that case, its the responsibility of the driver to maintain control and safe operation of the vehicle. Just because someone honk's a horn and you crash, doesn't mean they are at fault. You still crashed the car, you were driving.

 

[DoPo]

Well, it depends on the texts

Her: "wat u doin honey?"
Him: "imma drivin"
Her: "Oh, how did your day go"
Him: "herpa derp"
Him: "derpa herp"

^ She knows and actively engages him (especially if she normally gets pissy if her texts aren't returned in 15 seconds or so). Even if he didn't want to respond then, he was compelled to some extent.

Her: "u doin anything 2night?"

^ even if she knows he's driving, she may not be expecting an answer right now. It's the boyfriend's responsibility to text responsibly, she could very well assume that he is texting safely, not on the brink of a traffic accident.

Circumstances are important.

 

[Vivi22]

So whatcha think folks?

I think the boyfriend has no money and they're grasping at straws. And I am being mostly serious there as well. There is no way you can hold someone liable because they sent a text. They can't know for certain someone is driving, and even if they did, they aren't forcing the person to reply without pulling over.

So yeah, this is a frivolous lawsuit and I'm sure the court will decide that way as well. The way it should be decided.

 

[Blazing Steel]

Should she have texted him while he was driving? No, but thats as far as it goes. He chose to text back while driving, thus he made the choice to endanger himself and others.

EDIT:

Well, it depends on the texts

Her: "wat u doin honey?"
Him: "imma drivin"
Her: "Oh, how did your day go"
Him: "herpa derp"
Him: "derpa herp"

Actually this here aswell, if she acknolledged the fact he was texting and driving it could make her liable since she was actively encouraging it.

 

[Risingblade]

Haven't read the article but did the boyfriend die in the crash? why aren't they suing him?

 

[Irridium]

Kind of stupid. In the end though the guy shouldn't have been freaking texting while driving.

So whatcha think folks? Another frivolous lawsuit (i.e. hot coffee in the lap) or is there a genuine case here?

*beep* Wrong! That was not a frivolous lawsuit. That was a case of coffee being kept way above what could possibly be considered a safe temperature for any human being. It wasn't just a case of some dumb american not realising coffee was hot. If you keep coffee just tetering on the brink of turning into plasma, you can't just pipe "You shoulda realized it was hot!" when someone gets scalded.

If she was so derp then she wouldn't have dropped it.

Mistakes happen. McDonald's shouldn't have heated up the coffee to insanely dangerous temperatures.

But it was still partially her fault, which is why her compensation earnings for the case were reduced by 20%. The judge ruled it was 20% her fault.

 

[Headsprouter]

Well, if he came home and then responded, then there would be no point in the text at all, but I suppose he might've pulled over....it's funny. The girlfriend probably did know when he normally comes home from work, I can see where this case could be backed, I don't think it's entirely the guy's fault.

PLEASE try and understand that I'm only pointing out the logic that might've been used by the lawyer. I'm not saying he's in the right.

 

[chadachada123]

Yeah your reading it right and its not illegal where I live so yes I can do it. I don't read more than a sentence of text and I do it when I'm at a stop light or in slow traffic. I also don't type looking down, I use T9word on my keypad (yes an actual keypad). I'm not saying I'm a safe text driver (as there is no such thing), but I'm a safer driver. My only accident was when I was at a dead stop and a drug addict plowed into me going 55.

Honestly I think its the smart phones. Texting deaths really didn't go up till they came out. I can see why, you can't feel the buttons and people can send much larger texts. I think my 5 year old (dumb?) phone is fine.

Not to say we all don't do distracting things while driving, but I'm afraid no matter what you say there isn't much of a way to make it something that's "okay" enough to be worth defending here.

To be fair, if he's anything like me, he's probably a far better driver, even taking into account his texting, than a lot of the idiots on the road, even if said idiots are paying complete attention to the road.

It's people that are shitty drivers AND text that are the biggest problem.

 

[Jonluw]

Wait what?
Surely they're suing the boyfriend as well, right?
I mean... that's a case they would be sure to win. But suing the person on the other end? Come on.

 

[silver wolf009]

So whatcha think folks? Another frivolous lawsuit (i.e. hot coffee in the lap) or is there a genuine case here?

*beep* Wrong! That was not a frivolous lawsuit. That was a case of coffee being kept way above what could possibly be considered a safe temperature for any human being. It wasn't just a case of some dumb american not realising coffee was hot. If you keep coffee just tetering on the brink of turning into plasma, you can't just pipe "You shoulda realized it was hot!" when someone gets scalded.

If she was so derp then she wouldn't have dropped it.

She was around seventy I think, in a car, with it in between her lap. And besides, the fact that she spilled it in her lap isn't why she sued.

From what I understand about the case, her reasoning was mostly that she felt McDonalds was being negligent by keeping the coffee at 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Because they kept it so hot, it caused incredible damage, I think nerve damage actually, and she wanted to punish them for making a situation where someone could, and in her case, did get hurt.

And she wasn't money grabbing either; I think it was around 97% percent of the punitive damages she gave back to the burn ward that had treated her.

Anyway, back onto the topic at hand:

I really don't think this one will hold water. Unless they can prove that it wasn't anything he did, but that it was only her text, and her text alone, that caused the accident.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Yeah your reading it right and its not illegal where I live so yes I can do it. I don't read more than a sentence of text and I do it when I'm at a stop light or in slow traffic. I also don't type looking down, I use T9word on my keypad (yes an actual keypad). I'm not saying I'm a safe text driver (as there is no such thing), but I'm a safer driver. My only accident was when I was at a dead stop and a drug addict plowed into me going 55.

Honestly I think its the smart phones. Texting deaths really didn't go up till they came out. I can see why, you can't feel the buttons and people can send much larger texts. I think my 5 year old (dumb?) phone is fine.

Not to say we all don't do distracting things while driving, but I'm afraid no matter what you say there isn't much of a way to make it something that's "okay" enough to be worth defending here.

Thats why my original statement included this

"I do text and drive, I freely admit its a bad idea even if I haven't had a single close call yet."

 

[McMullen]

Lately it seems I'm seeing a lot of stories about people being arrested or sued for other people's poor decisions. The kids who trolled a suicidal teen, the guy who got arrested for placing bags that people might (might!) have thought were bombs, and now this.

What the hell? What's the point of teaching people responsibility at all if you can get in trouble for someone else's bad judgment? You shouldn't be liable for other people's choices, because it is impossible to predict what a person may choose to do. Even if you think you know them, they can surprise you.

It seems things have gotten ridiculous enough that soon we can expect to see people getting fired because their coworker got addicted to a videogame that they recommended.