She asked Dr Alan Davidson, electronic law expert at the University of Queensland, about the case.
It involves an 18-year-old man who was distracted from his driving while texting, and as a result veered onto the wrong side of the road across double lines.
He ran into a married couple on a motorcycle, resulting in them both losing a leg.
At the time of the crash he was steering with his elbows, with his head down.
Dr Davidson says the couple, Linda and David Kubert, decided to sue not only the driver, Kyle Best, but also the 17-year-old girl who had sent the text to him.
A single judge initially found the girl was not liable, but a court of appeal found that if someone sends a text to a person they know is driving, and know might be distracted, they could be liable.
Alan explains that in this particular case it couldn't be proved that the teenage girl knew those things, but it has opened the door to future liability for irresponsible texting to drivers.
"It's not anybody who texts anybody, you must firstly know that that person is driving, and secondly you must know that that person is likely to be distracted," he says.
"But the case does set the principle that on the right facts, where you can prove the person knows they're driving and knows they're likely to be distracted, they owe a duty of care to other people on the road."
The case was in New Jersey and doesn't yet apply under Australian law, but according to Alan it does "open the door".
He says texting has replaced drink driving as the leading cause of accidents and deaths among American teenagers.
Mobile phone use causes 3000 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the US each year, Alan says.
You can hear the interview between Jill Emberson from 1233 ABC Newcastle's Mornings program and Dr Alan Davidson on the attached audio.
No comments:
Post a Comment