( CNN ) -- Three New Jersey judges surprised phone owners everywhere Tuesday with a new message : You do n't have to be texting and driving to get in trouble . You might be legally liable for a crash if you 're on the other end of the phone , too . Jersey 's state Appeals Court sided with the argument made by a couple who were badly injured in a 2009 crash with an 18-year-old whose truck drifted across the center line and hit them riding on their motorcycle . They had already settled with the driver . But they 'd also sued his 17-year-old girlfriend , who had texted him shortly before the crash . On appeal , the court did n't find the girlfriend liable in this particular case because she did n't appear to know her boyfriend was driving at the time . But the jurists accepted the general argument that a texter may bear some legal responsibility if they know the other party is behind the wheel . That ruling opened up a whole new front in the war on texting and driving , which has seen lawmakers across the country getting tough on phones in the hands of motorists . The ruling sparked a lot of questions . We 'll try to address some of them here . Is it now illegal to text someone who is driving ? No , not yet . The criminal laws on this issue have n't changed in New Jersey or elsewhere . But the New Jersey judges appear to be saying that texting someone who is driving could make you liable to a civil lawsuit , based on existing laws against distracting a driver . `` We conclude that a person sending text messages has a duty not to text someone who is driving if the texter knows , or has special reason to know , the recipient will view the text while driving , '' they said in their ruling . `` One of the great arguments my colleague made ... was that when you text -- you 're the texter -- you are electronically in that car , '' New Jersey attorney Marc Saperstein told CNN affiliate WPIX . Could a new law result from this ? It 's possible . States everywhere are cracking down , but New Jersey lawmakers have been pretty aggressive in recent years about going after texting while driving . They 've already beefed up penalties to the point where causing an injury while texting is treated like doing so while driving drunk . A distracted driver could be fined up to $ 150,000 and could go to jail for as many as 10 years if they hurt someone , according to a law they passed last year . And they 're currently considering a bill that would let police officers look at a driver 's phone after an accident to see if they were texting at the time . Gov . Chris Christie , though , seems to think blaming the sender might be going too far . The driver , he said , is ultimately the one responsible . `` You have the obligation to keep your eyes on the road , your hands on the wheel and pay attention to what you 're doing , '' he told radio station New Jersey 101.5 . How am I supposed to know when someone is driving ? That 's question many folks have been asking . Michael Noonan , a lawyer in Red Bank , New Jersey , who handles many driving-related and personal injury cases , says that 's probably going to be at the heart of any lawsuit that tries to leapfrog off of this ruling . `` That will be a hotly contested factual issue , '' he said . `` I could envision a situation where an exchange goes back and forth and the driver explicitly says ' I 'm driving ' and you have someone who says , 'This needs to be answered right now . This is an emergency . It ca n't wait . ' '' Saperstein said the argument would hinge on `` if the texter knows , or has a special reason to know , that the driver will look at that text and respond to it . '' Examples , he said , are employer and employee or parent and child . How can I stay in the clear ? This one might be a no-brainer . But Noonan says there 's an easy way to avoid potential liability if you have a message for someone you know is probably on the road . `` Do n't , '' he said , when asked what he would tell a client . `` I think that 's the advice to everyone . Simply do n't do it . ''
New Jersey court says texting a driver may make you responsible for a crash . Judges suggest a text is similar to causing an in-car distraction . Attorneys : It will hard to prove sender knew the recipient was driving . N.J. Gov . Chris Christie : In the end , the driver is responsible .