Slaw: Could cellphone use constitute electronic presence at crime?

May 24, 2012 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources

The National Post recently presented the interesting case in which a New Jersey judge must decide whether someone can be “electronically present” in a car, even if they physically aren’t there, and, if so, whether the person can be held liable for events that take place, or that are caused by their electronic presence.

Put another way, if a person sends a text message to a person who is driving, and the driver gets into a vehicle collision, can others involved in the incident sue the sender of the message for distracting the driver?

For more, read my latest post on Slaw.

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Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor

Managing Editor at First Reference Inc.

Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B., is a trained lawyer called to the Quebec bar in 1988 and is still a member in good standing. She practiced business, employment and labour law until 1999. For over 18 years, Yosie has been the Managing Editor of the following publications, Human Resources Advisor, Human Resources PolicyPro, HRinfodesk and Accessibility Standards PolicyPro from First Reference. Yosie is one of Canada’s best known and most respected HR authors, with an extensive background in employment and labour across the country. Read more

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2 thoughts on “Slaw: Could cellphone use constitute electronic presence at crime?”

Yosie Saint-Cyr says:

May 27, 2012 at 6:51 pm

This is an update to my recent post: Could Cellphone Use Constitute Electronic Presence at Crime?

http://www.slaw.ca/2012/05/26/sender-of-the-text-message-not-liable-for-car-crash-judge-says/
Collin McGuirk says:

May 24, 2012 at 4:21 pm

There are a couple of things wrong with this…First, how can the sender know that the recipient is driving? Second, it is the recipient’s choice to answer the text or call when it is unsafe to do so. The responsibility should rest solely with the recipient.