Parents File Lawsuit After Trucker Allegedly Distracted by Porn Kills 18-Year-Old Driver

An 18-year-old driver was killed in a head-on collision by a trucker who was allegedly distracted by porn, and now his parents are taking legal action. CBS News reports that Jonathan Weaver was killed in the crash, which left two others, including the driver of the truck dead. Paramedics responding to the scene discovered the trucker had a cellphone in his hand, and there was porn playing on it.

Weaver’s parents have filed a lawsuit against Energy Transfer Partners, the company the allegedly distracted driver worked for. “I am not an angry person by nature, and as time goes on, I’m definitely dealing with anger over that, because to me it’s so senseless – watching porn, cellphone use,” Jonathan’s mother Delena Weaver said. “He killed my son.” 

Weaver’s parents are represented by lawyer Chip Brooker, who called the crash “one of the most extreme, egregious cases of distracted driving.” He continued. “Energy Transfer is a billion-dollar company that has the resources to monitor and detect this sort of conduct with their drivers.” As CBS noted, the CDC has estimated that an average of nine people a day die in the U.S. because a driver is distracted, usually by their cellphone.

While all but two states in the country have banned texting and driving, only 21 states have banned drivers from holding their phones while at the wheel. “Please put your phones down,” Delena Weaver added, hoping their lawsuit will inspire stricter regulations on the use of cellphones while driving. “Your life and other people’s lives are valuable. Put the phones away. It can wait.”