A Texas jury has ordered a college student, Jason Reed Vestal, to pay more than $21 million in damages after finding him grossly negligent for texting while driving, causing a fatal crash. The unanimous verdict is one of the largest yet in a texting-while-driving lawsuit (Small v. Vestal, No. 08-01-18000-CV {Tex., Robertson Co. Dist. Ct. Mar. 17, 2010}). "This verdict sends a message loud and clear that the people of Texas will not tolerate this conduct," said Hunter Craft, a Houston lawyer representing the plaintiffs.
The victim's family wants to make texting while driving illegal in the state. The defendant driver made seven phone calls and sent fifteen text messages during the forty-five minutes he was on the road prior to the crash.
In 2007, Jason Reed Vestal was driving his pickup truck on Highway 6 near Calvert, Texas, when he crossed the center-line and hit the victim's car head-on. The crash killed the other driver, 21-year-old Megan Small, a Baylor University student. Also injured in the crash was Small's friend Laura Gleffe, driving her vehicle behind Small's. She was run off the road by Vestal's truck.
After evading all criminal charges, the Small family turned to civil court. The defendant, who is a graduate student at Texas A&M, declared bankruptcy at the start of the trial, so attorney Craft acknowledged that the verdict was largely symbolic. The Small family announced it would share any compensation collected with Laura Gleffe.
Texting and driving is not only dangerous, it's against the law in California. Senate Bill 28, enacted on September 24, 2008, "prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read a text-based communication." New legislation has been introduced that could increase the fines for sending text messages and talking on handheld cell phones while driving. If California Senate Bill 1475 is passed, it would add a point to one's driving record. The new law also includes bicyclists.
A. Jason Kerckhoff is a San Diego County personal injury lawyer and the President of Kerckhoff Law, APC, a California personal injury law firm dedicated to representing people who have been seriously injured or killed, and the families of loved ones who have suffered death caused by the negligence of another.
A. Jason Kerckhoff has been successfully obtaining excellent results for his clients for more than twenty-five years. He has the highest rating in Martindale-Hubbell, which is the preeminent company that rates attorneys not only for their abilities, but for their ethics. These ratings are obtained by peers in the San Diego community, and a small percentage of lawyers are privileged to have achieved this rating.
Content: American Association For Justice
