Can you be blamed for texting a driver? Couple who both lost a leg in crash sue student for sending messages to boyfriend, 18, before he hit them with his truck



A couple who each lost a leg after a driver careened his truck into their motorbike is suing the man's girlfriend for texting him while he was behind the wheel.

David and Linda Kubert, both 59, were in Mine Hill, New Jersey when they saw Kyle Best, then 18, looking down at a text message as he swerved towards them.

After the September 2009 crash, police discovered he had exchanged 62 texts with his girlfriend that day, and he admitted he had been looking at his phone moments before he lost control of the car.



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Anger: Linda and David Kubert both lost a leg after a distracted driver crashed into their motorbike in September 2009. They are now suing his girlfriend for texting him before the crash

'I saw a gentlemen in the truck steering with his elbows, with his head down, and I could tell he was text messaging,' David told CBS .



'I looked down after the impact and my leg was torn off. I asked my wife is she was OK and she told me the bones of her leg were through her pants.'

Best pleaded guilty to three motor vehicle violations, including using a handheld device while driving.



The Kuberts are now suing him for distracted driving - and are also suing his girlfriend Shannon Colonna for texting him while he was driving.

'Responsible': Shannon Colonna, pictured on social networking profiles, should have known her boyfriend was driving when they were texting. She was 'electronically present' in the car, the Kuberts' lawyer said Driver: Kyle Best hit the Kuberts with his truck, pictured. He pleaded guilty to using his phone while driving

Best testified that he had not been texting when he crossed a lane of traffic and crashed into the Kuberts, but had been looking at a message.



Colonna, now a college student studying in Florida, has said she 'may have known' he was driving.

The Kuberts' lawyer Skippy Weinstein said she was 'electronically present' in the car. He said she should have known he was driving.



'What I find interesting was her testimony at depositions was that she answered by saying, "This is what teenagers do",' Weinstein told CBS.

Linda, 59, added: 'I believe that if she knew he was driving and answering her back with texts, that she's partially responsible too.'

Distracted: Best was looking at a text when his Chevy truck veered across the road and hit the motorbike

Injuries: David's leg was torn off in the accident while Linda said her leg bones had gone through her clothes

David told the New York Post : 'Our lives have changed dramatically. Besides the pain every day, I lost my job and we lost our health insurance.'

Dallas trial lawyer Todd Clement, who has a specialty in distracted driving, said the person sending a text could be held responsible.

'As this case goes forward, I think what you're going to see is a new awareness throughout the country,' he said.



'A new responsibility on the part of both the sender and the receiver of the text message not to continue this kind of negligent activity.'

Colonna's lawyers said the Kuberts suit is a 'leap of logic'. Her attorney, Joseph McGlone,said she should not be involved in the suit at all as it was 'not fair [or] reasonable'.

Precedent: New Jersey is one of 19 states that bans drivers from texting while they are behind the wheel - but there are no laws against people knowingly texting or calling a driver

'Shannon Colonna has no way to control when Kyle Best is going to read that message,' he told the Daily Record.



A New Jersey judge will decide on Friday if the Kuberts have a case against her.

New Jersey is one of 19 states with laws banning drivers from texting. The laws have no penalties for people who knowingly call or text drivers.

After the crash, Best pleaded guilty to using his phone while driving, paid a $775 fine and agreed to speak about the dangers of texting while driving.

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