Texting While Driving Accidents

Texting while driving accidents can have devastating consequences. Distracted driving due to cell phone or other electronics use is a huge and growing problem across the country. Looking down to text while driving on the highway is equivalent to driving the length of a football field blindfolded. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our Syracuse car accident lawyers may be able to help you recover damages if you were injured in a texting while driving accident caused by someone else.

Texting while driving is one of the most common forms of distracted driving. In New York, drivers are prohibited from using portable electronic devices while driving. That means that drivers are not supposed to hold portable electronic devices or talk on portable electronic devices while operating their vehicles. There are exceptions to this general prohibition, such as using devices to communicate an emergency to the police, doctor's office, or fire department.

If a driver is focused on a text, he or she may miss changing road conditions, and a collision becomes more likely. If you were injured as a result of someone else's texting while driving, your attorney probably will need to establish negligence. This means showing certain things by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care, (2) there was a breach of the duty to use reasonable care, (3) actual and proximate causation led to the accident, and (4) you incurred actual damages. In most cases, if an officer cites a driver for texting while driving, this is very strong evidence of the driver's breach of the duty to use reasonable care. It may also be possible to recover other evidence of texting while driving, such as the testimony of a passenger in the car operated by the texting driver or phone records.

Even a defendant who was clearly negligent in texting while driving may raise the defense of comparative negligence against you. This means that the defendant must prove the same elements with regard to the plaintiff’s actions and omissions leading up to the accident. Sometimes two people's distracted driving combines to cause a rear-end collision or another accident. New York is a pure comparative negligence state. If the lawsuit does not settle and goes to a jury, the jury will evaluate the arguments and evidence on each side and assign percentages of fault. For example, if one of you was texting while driving, while the other was tailgating, so you are each found 50% at fault, and your damages are $1 million, an injury lawyer may be able to help you recover $500,000 from the other driver.

Damages may include economic and noneconomic losses, including wage loss, lost earning capacity, costs of medical treatment, out-of-pocket expenses, property damage, medical equipment, prescription medication, replacement services (such as household services), pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and mental anguish. The extent of the damages depends on the degree of harm suffered and the nature of the injuries. In other words, the damages to be recovered may be different when the victim is a 25-year-old male who suffered a broken bone versus a middle-aged woman who was pregnant and lost her baby as a result of the impact.

Texting while driving accidents can cause devastating injuries, including paralysis and other spinal cord damage, soft tissue injuries, broken bones, scarring, disfigurement, amputations, and crushing of limbs. Most people do not have enough money saved up in case of catastrophic injuries, and their only recourse is to file a lawsuit and recover compensation from the parties responsible for their damages. If you have been injured or a loved one has been killed in a texting while driving accident in Syracuse, our law firm may be able to help you recover damages from the responsible parties. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano represents accident victims in Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton, Auburn, Elmira, Norwich, Cortland, Delhi, Herkimer, Watertown, Lowville, Oneida, Wampsville, Utica, Canandaigua, Oswego, Cooperstown, Ithaca, and Lyons. Call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.