Send Someone A Text While They Are Driving, You Could Be Held Liable

According to a New Jersey court, if you send someone a text message and you know they are driving at that very moment you can share liability if the person gets in to an accident. 

The case in question is of a couple who were injured on their motorcycle in 2009 when a teen, who was texting while driving, hit them. The couple sued the driver and settled the lawsuit for $500,000. The girlfriend of the driver was also sued in a separate suit from the couple alleging she knew her boyfriend was driving when she sent the text.

Can they actually do that? Well, the Appeals Court in charge of the case stated that

Anyone who texts a motorist can potentially be liable if the sender knew the recipient would view the text while driving.

The judge overseeing the case upheld the lower courts ruling on the main lawsuit but dismissed the case against the girlfriend saying there wan't enough evidence that she knew her boyfriend was driving at the time of the crash.

Wither you know or not, isn't it the responsibility of the person driving to not look or answer the text? Is this a crazy ruling or justified?