Last Updated: June 2025

If you think Texas has solved its distracted driving problem, think again. Despite having comprehensive laws since 2017, aggressive enforcement campaigns, and constant awareness efforts, distracted driving remains the second-leading cause of traffic accidents in Texas.

The phones may have gotten smarter, but the people using them behind the wheel haven’t. Every day, drivers make the devastating choice to prioritize their phones over public safety—and innocent people pay the price.

Texas Distracted Driving: The Numbers Don’t Lie

Texas hasn’t had a single deathless day on its roadways since November 7, 2000. That’s over 24 years of daily fatalities, and distracted driving plays a major role in this tragic streak.

In 2024, distracted driving caused 373 deaths and 2,587 serious injuries across Texas, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. That means more than one person dies from distracted driving every single day in our state. Nearly 20% of all crashes involve a distracted driver, making it the #2 cause of traffic accidents statewide.

Here’s what makes these numbers so heartbreaking: every single crash was completely preventable. No text message, phone call, or social media notification is worth a human life.

What Texas Law Actually Says About Distracted Driving

Since September 1, 2017, texting while driving has been illegal everywhere in Texas. But many drivers don’t realize how comprehensive these laws actually are.

The Basics Everyone Should Know

Texas prohibits reading, writing, or sending text messages while driving. Since we’re a “hands-free” state, you can’t hold a phone while driving at all. Using handheld devices in school zones is illegal, and any electronic messaging while your vehicle is moving violates the law.

Stricter Rules for Some Drivers

Young drivers face even tougher restrictions. If you’re under 18, you can’t use any wireless device while driving—not even hands-free systems. New drivers can’t use cell phones at all for their first six months, regardless of age. School bus drivers can’t use phones when children are present.

Penalties That Need to Change

Here’s where Texas gets it wrong. First-time offenders face only $25-$99 in fines. Repeat violations carry $100-$200 penalties. Compare that to a typical Austin parking ticket ($25-$75) and you’ll see why these laws aren’t working.

Only when distracted driving causes serious injury or death does it become a Class A misdemeanor with up to $4,000 in fines and one year in jail. By then, it’s too late—the damage is already done.

Why Current Laws Aren’t Working: The Addiction Problem

Here’s a shocking statistic: after Texas banned texting while driving in 2017, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute found that 65% of drivers still admitted to texting and driving in the previous 30 days. That reveals the real problem—smartphone addiction.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that distracted driving was a factor in 3,308 fatal crashes in 2022 nationwide. This represents the ongoing challenge of changing deeply ingrained behaviors despite legal prohibitions.

It’s Not Like Wearing a Seatbelt

Many officials hoped cell phone bans would become second nature, like buckling seatbelts. But that comparison misses a crucial point. Seatbelts require one action per trip that becomes automatic. Resisting your phone requires fighting an addiction every few minutes throughout your entire drive.

Modern smartphones are designed to be addictive. They use unpredictable notification patterns that create fear of missing out, trigger dopamine responses from social interactions, and develop habitual checking behaviors that are incredibly hard to break.

That’s why legal consequences alone can’t solve this problem. We’re asking people to overcome addiction through willpower while facing minimal penalties.

The Enforcement Challenge: Why Police Struggle to Stop It

Law enforcement faces an almost impossible task when it comes to catching distracted drivers. Unlike drunk driving, where erratic driving patterns often reveal impairment, texting drivers can appear normal until the moment of impact.

The Detection Problem

Most texts are read or sent in 3-5 second bursts. Experienced texters can maintain their lane position while using phones. Privacy laws prevent officers from searching phones without warrants, and by the time police arrive at crash scenes, phones are usually put away.

Even when violations are detected, enforcement requires dedicated traffic units specifically watching for phone use, extended observation periods to build probable cause, and court time for officers to testify in what are considered minor cases. With violent crime and other emergencies competing for attention, distracted driving enforcement often takes a backseat.

The Human Cost: Real Families, Real Consequences

At Lee, Gober & Reyna, we see the devastating aftermath of distracted driving crashes every day. Behind every statistic is a family whose life changed forever because someone couldn’t put their phone down.

The Injuries We See Most Often

Distracted driving crashes cause some of the most severe injuries we handle. Traumatic brain injuries leave victims with lifelong cognitive problems. Spinal cord injuries result in paralysis that affects entire families. Multiple fractures require years of surgery and rehabilitation. Internal organ damage from high-speed impacts creates ongoing medical complications.

The Ripple Effects

But the damage goes far beyond physical injuries. We see families bankrupted by medical expenses that insurance won’t fully cover. Productive adults face career-ending disabilities just as they’re hitting their earning peak. Children lose parents in preventable crashes. Survivors deal with chronic pain, PTSD, and depression for years after their accidents.

Meanwhile, the at-fault drivers often face minimal consequences while victims struggle to rebuild their lives.

Technology: Creating Problems, Promising Solutions

The same technology causing distracted driving problems might eventually solve them—but we’re not there yet.

Why “Hands-Free” Isn’t Risk-Free

Research proves that cognitive distraction remains dangerous even without physically holding your phone. Whether you use voice-to-text, hands-free calling, or Bluetooth systems, thinking about conversations instead of driving still impairs your ability to react safely.

Current solutions fall short of expectations. Driver mode apps can be easily disabled. Voice-to-text still requires mental composition and review. Navigation apps demand visual attention. Emergency bypass features get misused for non-emergencies.

What’s Coming Next

Future technology offers real hope. Advanced driver assistance systems that detect attention lapses, phone blocking technology integrated into vehicles, biometric monitoring for cognitive distraction, and vehicle-to-everything communication could reduce the decision-making burden on drivers.

But until these technologies become standard, we need better laws and enforcement to protect innocent people from distracted drivers.

Your Legal Rights After a Distracted Driving Accident

If a distracted driver injures you or someone you love, you have legal rights that insurance companies will try to minimize or deny.

Criminal vs. Civil Consequences

Distracted drivers who cause serious injuries face criminal charges including negligent homicide, vehicular manslaughter, and aggravated assault. Commercial drivers may face federal violations if they break Department of Transportation regulations.

But criminal cases don’t help victims pay medical bills or replace lost income. That’s where civil liability comes in. You can pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, future care costs, pain and suffering, and loss of quality of life.

Under Texas law, violating the texting ban establishes “negligence per se,” making it easier to prove the driver was at fault and recover damages.

Proving Distracted Driving Happened

Evidence collection is crucial for winning your case. Cell phone records show calls or texts at crash time. App usage data proves social media or navigation use. Modern cars record speed, braking, and steering data. Surveillance cameras capture the moments before impact.

Understanding how to gather and preserve this evidence can make the difference between a successful claim and a denied one. Working with experienced attorneys ensures no crucial evidence is overlooked or lost.

Witness testimony from people who saw the driver using a phone can be powerful evidence. Even the driver’s passengers might admit the phone was being used. Police officers sometimes note where they found the phone or whether it was damaged in a way that suggests it was being held.

Protecting Your Family: What Actually Works

For Parents of Teen Drivers

We encourage all parents to have honest conversations about distracted driving and model safe behavior themselves. Your kids will copy what you do, not what you say. Teen drivers face the highest risks from distracted driving, making education and prevention crucial during their learning years.

For comprehensive information about protecting young drivers, see our guide on Texas cell phone laws, which covers specific restrictions for new and underage drivers.

Practical steps include installing apps that disable texting while driving, creating family contracts with real consequences for phone use, never using your phone while driving with your children in the car, and sharing real stories about crash victims to make the consequences real.

For All Drivers

The most effective prevention is making phone use physically impossible. Keep your phone in the backseat or trunk where you can’t reach it. Use your phone’s “Do Not Disturb While Driving” feature. Complete all your setup—navigation, music, climate control—before you start driving. If you have passengers, let them handle any phone tasks that come up.

What Texas Needs to Fix This Problem

Better Laws

Texas needs meaningful penalties that actually deter dangerous behavior. Minimum fines should start at $300 for first offenses and $500+ for repeat violations. We need a license point system that affects insurance rates. Officers should be able to stop drivers solely for phone use without waiting for other violations.

Smarter Enforcement

Successful distracted driving reduction requires dedicated traffic units focused specifically on phone use violations, high-visibility enforcement campaigns that get media attention, and data-driven deployment in areas where distracted driving crashes happen most often.

Cultural Change

Ultimately, we need to make distracted driving as socially unacceptable as drunk driving became. This requires community-wide efforts including employer policies banning phone use in company vehicles, school programs that teach real consequences before bad habits form, and peer accountability campaigns that change social norms.

When You Need Legal Help

If you or someone you love has been hurt by a distracted driver, don’t face the legal battle alone. Insurance companies have teams of lawyers working to minimize what they pay you. You need experienced advocates who understand how to prove distracted driving occurred, calculate the full scope of your damages, counter the tactics insurance companies use to deny claims, and navigate Texas laws that protect accident victims.

At Lee, Gober & Reyna, we’ve helped countless families recover from distracted driving crashes. We understand both the legal complexities and the human cost of these preventable tragedies.

Take Action Now

If you’ve been injured, seek medical attention immediately—even for seemingly minor injuries. Document everything with photos, witness information, and police reports. Don’t repair your vehicle until it’s been thoroughly documented. Most importantly, contact an experienced attorney before giving any statements to insurance companies.

You have two years under Texas law to file a personal injury claim, but evidence disappears quickly and witnesses’ memories fade. The sooner you get legal help, the stronger your case will be.

The Fight Continues

The battle against distracted driving in Texas is far from over. Despite comprehensive laws, enforcement campaigns, and widespread awareness efforts, drivers continue making deadly choices to prioritize their phones over public safety.

Until we address the fundamental addiction aspect of smartphone use and implement meaningful consequences for violations, innocent people will continue paying the ultimate price for others’ poor decisions.

The phones may be smart, but using them while driving will never be anything other than a deadly choice that devastates lives. We must continue fighting—through better laws, stronger enforcement, and cultural change—until every Texas driver understands that no text, call, or notification is worth a human life.

If your family has been affected by a distracted driving accident, you don’t have to face the aftermath alone. Our experienced attorneys are here to fight for the compensation you deserve while holding negligent drivers accountable for their actions.

The Current State of Distracted Driving in Texas

Texas has not had a deathless day on its roadways since November 7, 2000. In 2024 alone, nearly one in five crashes on Texas roads were caused by a distracted driver in which 373 people died and 2,587 were seriously injured. To put this in perspective, that’s more than one person dying from distracted driving every single day in Texas.

The numbers tell a grim story. In 2024, distracted driving caused 373 fatalities and 2,587 serious injuries that forever changed families’ lives. Nearly 20% of all crashes involve a distracted driver, making distracted driving the #2 cause of traffic accidents statewide.

What makes these statistics particularly tragic is that every single one of these crashes was completely preventable.

Texas Distracted Driving Laws: Comprehensive but Underenforced

Since September 1, 2017, texting while driving has been illegal across the state of Texas, with the law prohibiting motorists from reading, writing or sending electronic messages while driving. But the law goes much further than many drivers realize.

What’s Actually Illegal in Texas

For all drivers, Texas law prohibits reading, writing, or sending text messages while driving. Since Texas is a “hands-free” state, holding a phone while driving is also illegal, as is using handheld devices in school zones or any electronic messaging while the vehicle is in motion.

Drivers under 18 face even stricter rules and cannot use any wireless device while driving, including hands-free systems. New drivers are prohibited from all cell phone use for the first six months after receiving their license, regardless of age. School bus drivers cannot use phones at all when children are present.

Penalties That Don’t Match the Crime

The current penalty structure reveals a fundamental problem with enforcement priorities. First-time offenders face only $25-$99 in fines, while subsequent violations carry $100-$200 penalties. Only when distracted driving causes serious injury or death does the offense become a Class A misdemeanor with up to $4,000 fine and one year in jail.

Compare this to the average parking ticket in Austin ($25-$75) and you’ll understand why the deterrent effect has been minimal.

Why the Laws Aren’t Working: The Addiction Factor

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute found that after the 2017 law took effect, 65% of drivers admitted texting and driving in the previous 30 days. This statistic reveals the core problem: smartphone addiction has created a compulsive behavior that legal consequences alone cannot address.

The Psychology of Phone Addiction

Unlike buckling a seatbelt—a one-time action that becomes automatic—resisting phone use requires constant, active decision-making throughout every drive. Modern smartphones are designed to be addictive, using variable reward schedules where notifications arrive unpredictably, creating fear of missing out on important messages, triggering dopamine responses from social media interactions, and developing habitual checking behaviors through daily use.

This is why comparing distracted driving laws to seatbelt laws is fundamentally flawed. Seatbelt compliance became second nature because it’s a single action per trip. Phone resistance requires fighting an addiction every few minutes throughout the journey.

The Enforcement Challenge: Why Police Can’t Stop It

Law enforcement faces a nearly impossible task in detecting and preventing distracted driving. Unlike drunk driving—where erratic driving patterns often reveal impairment—texting drivers can appear to drive normally until the moment of impact.

Detection Difficulties

Law enforcement faces multiple challenges in detecting distracted driving. Most texts are read or sent in 3-5 second bursts, and experienced texters can maintain lane position while using their phones. Privacy laws prevent officers from searching phones without warrants or probable cause, and by the time police arrive at crash scenes, phones are often put away.

Even when violations are detected, enforcement requires dedicated traffic units specifically watching for phone use, extended observation periods to build probable cause, and court time for officers to testify in relatively minor cases. With competing priorities like violent crime and other emergencies, distracted driving enforcement often takes a backseat.

The Real-World Impact: Beyond Statistics

Behind every distracted driving statistic is a human tragedy that ripples through families and communities. At Lee, Gober & Reyna, we see the devastating aftermath firsthand.

Common Injuries from Distracted Driving Accidents

At Lee, Gober & Reyna, we see the devastating aftermath firsthand. Catastrophic injuries from distracted driving crashes include traumatic brain injuries with lifelong cognitive impairment, spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis, multiple fractures requiring extensive surgery and rehabilitation, and internal organ damage from high-impact collisions.

The secondary impacts extend far beyond the initial injuries. Families are bankrupted by medical expenses, productive adults face career-ending disabilities, children are orphaned by preventable crashes, and survivors deal with chronic pain and PTSD for years after the accident.

While victims struggle with medical bills, lost wages, and permanent disabilities, at-fault drivers often face minimal consequences. Insurance companies routinely minimize payouts by claiming accidents were “unavoidable” or questioning the severity of injuries.

Technology: Part of the Problem and the Solution

The same technology creating distracted driving problems might eventually solve them—but we’re not there yet.

Current Technological Gaps

Research shows that regardless of whether you use a voice-to-text program, hands-free device or a handheld one, the distraction will affect your driving. Cognitive distraction—thinking about the conversation rather than driving—remains dangerous even without physical phone manipulation.

App-based solutions often fall short of expectations. Driver mode apps can be easily disabled, voice-to-text requires mental composition and review, navigation apps still demand visual attention, and emergency bypass features are frequently misused.

Promising developments for the future include advanced driver assistance systems that can detect attention lapses, phone blocking technology integrated into vehicle systems, biometric monitoring that detects cognitive distraction, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication reducing decision-making demands.

Legal Consequences for Distracted Drivers

When distracted driving causes accidents, legal liability extends far beyond traffic citations.

Criminal and Civil Liability

If distracted driving results in serious injury or death, drivers can face criminally negligent homicide charges, vehicular manslaughter in extreme cases, aggravated assault if injuries are severe, and federal charges if commercial drivers violate DOT regulations.

Victims can pursue compensation for economic damages like medical expenses, lost wages, and future care costs, as well as non-economic damages including pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. In cases of gross negligence or repeated violations, punitive damages may also be awarded.

Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, violating the texting ban can establish negligence per se, making it easier for victims to prove liability and recover damages.

What Actually Works: Evidence-Based Solutions

Research from states with comprehensive hands-free laws shows what actually reduces distracted driving.

Evidence-Based Solutions

Research from states with comprehensive hands-free laws shows what actually reduces distracted driving. Effective policy solutions include primary enforcement laws that allow officers to stop drivers solely for phone use, meaningful penalties with fines starting at $300+ and license point systems, graduated consequences with automatic license suspension for repeat offenders, and enhanced penalties for commercial drivers.

Community-based approaches have also proven successful, including employer policies banning phone use in company vehicles, school education programs teaching consequences before habits form, peer accountability through social campaigns making distracted driving socially unacceptable, and victim impact presentations where crash survivors share their stories.

How to Prove Distracted Driving After an Accident

If you’ve been injured by a distracted driver, evidence collection is crucial for recovering compensation.

Gathering Evidence After an Accident

If you’ve been injured by a distracted driver, evidence collection is crucial for recovering compensation. Digital evidence includes cell phone records showing calls or texts at the time of the crash, app usage data proving social media or navigation use, vehicle telematics from modern cars that record speed, braking, and steering inputs, and surveillance footage from traffic cameras or business security systems.

Witness evidence can be equally valuable, including eyewitness testimony from others who saw the driver using a phone, passenger statements if the at-fault driver had passengers, and emergency responder observations noted in police reports about phone location.

Physical evidence might include phone damage patterns indicating the device was being held during impact, message timestamps showing texts sent or received near the crash time, and vehicle damage analysis demonstrating lack of braking or evasive action.

Protecting Your Family: Practical Prevention

For Parents and All Drivers

We encourage all parents to talk to their kids about distracted driving and model safe driving habits. Disabling your call, message, or email notifications will help young drivers keep their eyes on the road and their attention on driving.

Effective strategies for parents include installing monitoring apps that disable texting while driving, creating family contracts with clear consequences for violations, leading by example by never using your phone while driving with kids, and explaining real consequences through victim impact stories.

For all drivers, practical prevention includes keeping your phone in the backseat for physical separation that reduces temptation, using Do Not Disturb while driving to let technology help you resist, completing pre-trip planning by setting navigation, music, and climate before driving, and utilizing passenger assistance to let others handle phone tasks when possible.

The Path Forward: What Texas Needs

Moving Forward: What Texas Needs

Texas needs legislative solutions including increased penalties with minimum $300 first offense and $500+ for repeat violations, a license point system to make violations affect insurance rates meaningfully, primary enforcement allowing stops based solely on observed phone use, and enhanced penalties for commercial drivers.

Enforcement solutions should include dedicated traffic units with officers specifically targeting distracted driving, high-visibility campaigns with regular enforcement blitzes and media coverage, technology assistance through automated detection systems where legally permissible, and data-driven deployment focusing enforcement on high-crash corridors.

The ultimate solution requires changing social norms around phone use while driving, similar to how attitudes shifted regarding drunk driving and smoking.

When Tragedy Strikes: Your Legal Rights

If you or a loved one has been injured by a distracted driver, you have rights that insurance companies often try to minimize or deny.

Protecting Your Rights After an Accident

If you or a loved one has been injured by a distracted driver, you have rights that insurance companies often try to minimize or deny. Immediate steps include seeking medical attention even if injuries seem minor initially, documenting everything including photos, witness information, and police reports, preserving evidence by not repairing vehicles until thoroughly documented, and contacting an attorney before giving statements to insurance companies.

Legal representation matters because insurance companies have teams of lawyers working to minimize payouts. You need experienced advocates who understand how to prove distracted driving occurred, the full scope of damages in serious injury cases, tactics insurers use to deny or minimize claims, and Texas laws protecting accident victims.

At Lee, Gober & Reyna, we’ve helped countless families recover from the devastation of distracted driving crashes. We understand both the legal complexities and the human cost of these preventable tragedies.

Conclusion: The Fight Continues

The battle against distracted driving in Texas is far from over. Despite comprehensive laws, aggressive enforcement campaigns, and widespread awareness efforts, drivers continue making deadly decisions to prioritize their phones over public safety.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I be cited for distracted driving if I’m using a hands-free device?

While hands-free devices are generally legal in Texas, you can still be cited if your phone use causes unsafe driving. Research shows that distracted driving in any form can still result in a citation if it causes erratic or unsafe driving. Officers have discretion to cite drivers whose attention is dangerously divided, regardless of the technology used.

2. Is it illegal to read a text message without responding while driving?

Yes, absolutely. The law prohibits reading, writing, or sending text messages while driving. Even if you are only looking at a message and not responding, you can still be ticketed. The law doesn’t distinguish between active texting and passive reading—both remove your attention from the road and are equally illegal.

3. Can I text while stopped at a red light?

Texting at a red light in Texas is still classified as illegal because the law still considers you to be operating a motor vehicle, even if you’re not in motion. The only way to legally use your phone is to completely exit traffic and park your vehicle in a safe location.

4. What happens if a distracted driver kills someone?

If distracted driving results in a death, the offense may be elevated to a Class A misdemeanor, carrying potential jail time of up to one year and a fine of up to $4,000. Additionally, the driver faces potential vehicular manslaughter charges and civil liability for wrongful death, which can result in significant financial damages to surviving family members.

5. How can police prove I was texting while driving?

Law enforcement can obtain cell phone records showing the timing of calls, texts, and app usage. They can also use witness testimony, surveillance footage, and accident reconstruction evidence. Police can obtain records, such as cell phone records, to show the driver was occupied while driving. Modern smartphones and vehicles also contain detailed data logs that can prove phone use at specific times.

6. Do distracted driving laws apply in parking lots?

Texas traffic laws generally apply only to public roads. However, if your texting leads to an accident on private property, you may still face civil liability or be cited for reckless driving. Private property owners can also establish their own rules regarding phone use on their premises.

7. Can passengers be fined for texting in a moving vehicle?

No. The law only applies to drivers. Passengers are free to text while the vehicle is in motion. However, passengers should be mindful that their phone activities could distract the driver and potentially contribute to an accident.

8. Are there exceptions for emergency situations?

Yes. You may legally text while driving if you are reporting an emergency, crime, or seeking medical assistance. Law enforcement officers, emergency responders, and operators of authorized emergency vehicles are also exempt from the ban while performing official duties.

9. How does distracted driving affect insurance rates?

Distracted driving violations can significantly increase insurance premiums. From 2023 to 2024, the percent increase on your premium for a cellphone violation stayed about the same at close to 22%. Some states impose even higher penalties, with increases ranging from 5% to 56% depending on your location and insurance company.

10. What should I do if I’m injured by a distracted driver?

First, seek immediate medical attention and call police to document the accident. Preserve evidence including photos, witness information, and any indication the other driver was using a phone. You have two years from the accident date to make a claim under Texas law, but it’s crucial to contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible to protect your rights and begin investigating the case while evidence is still available.