Bill Text: NJ A4431 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes that person who knowingly sends text message to motor vehicle operator is immune from civil liability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-11-18 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A4431 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A4431-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MICHAEL PATRICK CARROLL
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes that person who knowingly sends text message to motor vehicle operator is immune from civil liability.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning civil liability relating to text messaging while driving and supplementing chapter 53A of Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Any person who sends a text message or other electronic message via a wireless telephone or electronic communication device with knowledge, or having reason to know, that the recipient of the message is operating a motor vehicle at the time that the message was sent shall not be liable to any person for civil damages resulting from a motor vehicle accident caused by, directly or indirectly, the message recipient's unlawful use of a hand-held wireless telephone while driving in violation of section 1 of P.L.2003, c.310 (C.39:4-97.3).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides immunity from civil liability for any person who sends a text message with the knowledge that the recipient of the message is operating a motor vehicle at the time that the message is sent. Specifically, the person sending the text message would not be liable to any person for civil damages resulting from a motor vehicle accident caused by, directly or indirectly, the message recipient's violation of the State's ban on talking on a hand-held wireless telephone or texting a message with a hand-held wireless electronic communication device while driving. Under current law, an operator of a moving motor vehicle on a public road or highway is prohibited from using a cell phone except when the cell phone is hands-free.
This bill is in response to a recent decision by the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court in which the court concluded that a person sending text messages has a duty not to text someone who is driving if the person sending the text knows, or has special reason to know, the recipient will view the text while driving.
