“I only looked down for a second.” Lawyers hear some version of that sentence after a surprising number of crashes. The trouble is that a second at 40 miles per hour is a long stretch of road, and the person who was hit usually has no idea what the other driver was actually doing. They just know the car came at them and didn’t stop.
If you were hurt by someone who may have been on their phone, a Fall River distracted driving accident lawyer will focus on one question first: what can be shown? Suspicion is easy. Proof is the harder part, and much of it disappears quickly.
How big the problem is
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s research note Distracted Driving in 2023 counted 3,275 people killed and an estimated 324,819 injured in crashes involving distracted drivers. Those deaths made up 8 percent of the 40,901 traffic fatalities that year.
One limit worth keeping in mind: these are crashes where distraction was identified. Whether it gets recorded depends on what officers, witnesses and the drivers themselves say, which is exactly why the early evidence matters.
What Massachusetts says drivers may and may not do
The state’s hands-free law has been in effect since February 23, 2020. For drivers 18 and older, a phone has to be used hands-free. A driver can’t hold or support it, can only touch it to switch on a hands-free mode, and has to have it mounted on the windshield, dashboard or center console. Typing out a text or poking at an app by hand is off the table, though starting a navigation route on a properly mounted device is allowed. Drivers under 18 can’t use electronic devices at all while driving, even hands-free.
The penalties escalate. A first offense is $100. A second is $250 and a distracted driving education program. A third carries $500, an insurance surcharge and the program again.
Those fines are about traffic enforcement. In an injury claim, the law matters differently: it gives you a clear standard for what a careful driver should have been doing.
Three places phone use turns up as proof
1. At the scene. What the other driver says in the first few minutes can matter more than anything they say later. People apologize, mention a message, or hold a phone in a way that’s noticed by others. Don’t interrogate them, but do write down what you hear and see, and ask whether the officer noted anything about phone use in the report.
2. On the devices themselves. Phones keep records of calls, messages and app activity, and some vehicles log their own data. Getting at that information is normally a formal process, and the records don’t last forever, so a lawyer’s early letter asking the other side to preserve them can be important. No one can promise what those records will show, but you can’t use evidence that was deleted before anyone asked.
3. In what other people noticed. Passengers, drivers stopped behind, a clerk watching from a storefront, a doorbell camera on a side street. Someone may have seen a head tilted down, a car drifting over a line or a long pause at a green light. Those details are easy to lose, because people forget and move on, so names and numbers matter.
A phone doesn’t win the case by itself
Even if a driver was on their phone, you still have to show the distraction caused the crash and what it cost you. And insurers will test your side, too. Under G.L. c. 231, section 85, a person who bears some of the blame can still recover as long as their share isn’t greater than the total of the other side’s, though their damages are reduced by their percentage. That’s one reason to avoid guessing about your own speed or timing when you talk to an adjuster.
Things people say that come back later
After a crash, adrenaline makes people chatty, and a few offhand lines tend to resurface. “I’m fine” at the scene can be quoted against a later neck injury. Guessing at how fast the other car was going can be contradicted by the physical evidence. And posting about the crash online, even something casual, gives an insurer material to read closely. It’s perfectly fine to say very little: that you’re hurt, that you need medical care, and that you’ll provide details once you’ve had a chance to think. Your account matters most when it’s accurate, and accuracy is easier when you’re not rushed.
If you’ve just been hit
Get medical care, then call the police and make sure a report is filed. Take photos of the cars, the road and anything unusual, such as a phone on the floor or a mount that’s empty. Write down what you saw the other driver doing, in plain words, without adding conclusions you didn’t observe. Keep your own phone records from the time of the crash, because the other side may ask about yours too.
Be careful with quick calls from the other driver’s insurer. You don’t have to give a recorded statement right away, and it’s reasonable to wait until you understand your injuries.
If you suspect distraction played a role in your crash, a Fall River distracted driving accident lawyer can start preserving evidence while it still exists and tell you honestly how strong the connection looks.
