Texting and Driving Accident Lawyer
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Terry Crouppen who has more than 40 years of legal experience as a personal injury attorney. Our last modified date shows when this page was last reviewed.
- Last Modified:
- September 18, 2023
Texting and driving can lead to serious automobile accidents, often causing life-altering injuries such as brain damage and paralysis. If you or a loved one have been hurt in a texting and driving crash, Brown & Crouppen’s skilled Missouri texting and driving accident lawyers can help you obtain maximum compensation. We can analyze your case to determine eligibility, perform legal research, negotiate with the opposition, and represent you in court.
Texting and driving is an incredibly dangerous type of distracted driving that puts everyone on the road at risk. If you or a loved one have been hurt in a texting and driving accident, Brown & Crouppen’s St. Louis and Kansas City texting and driving accident lawyers can help. Covering Missouri, Kansas, and southern Illinois, our experienced attorneys can advise you about your rights, gather evidence, and help you obtain the justice and compensation you deserve. Our St. Louis car accident lawyers and Kansas City car accident lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, meaning there’s no upfront cost to you—we only get paid if you get paid.
What Is Texting and Driving?
Also known as texting while driving, texting and driving involves writing, sending, or reading text messages on a cell phone while driving. It is a form of distracted driving, significantly increasing the chances that a driver will be involved in a car crash. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,142 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2020.
A recent University of Utah study found texting and driving is at least as dangerous as driving under the influence. In that study, participants used a driving simulator four times: once using a handheld mobile phone, once undistracted, once while intoxicated, and once using a hands-free cell phone. The study showed that participants were equally impaired when they drove under the influence as they were when they drove and used a cell phone. There was no major difference between using hand-held and hands-free cell phones.
Examples of Texting and Driving Accidents
Texting and driving can lead to various car accidents, including the following:
- Rollovers: These are crashes in which vehicles tip onto their roofs or sides. They have a high chance of causing fatalities.
- Head-on collisions: Also called frontal collisions, these accidents happen when the front ends of two vehicles collide.
- Rear-end collisions: These happen when the front of a vehicle collides with another vehicle’s rear end. They occur when drivers follow too closely or fail to pay attention to the road.
- Sideswipe accidents: These happen when two or more vehicles are moving parallel to one another, and one car collides with another. They often occur when drivers forget to turn their heads to look for blind spots.
- Merging accidents: These occur when drivers collide with other cars while merging into traffic. Such accidents occur when motorists forget to check their blind spots, fail to match the speed of other drivers, or drive recklessly.
Missouri Texting and Driving Laws
In Missouri, accidents caused by distracted driving have increased by 30 percent since 2014. Despite this alarming statistic, Missouri remains one of the two states that do not make texting and driving illegal for all people.
Per Missouri Revisor of Statutes Section 304.820, texting and driving is only illegal for commercial drivers and drivers 21 or younger. Driving while speaking on a hand-held mobile phone is legal for drivers of all ages.
Although Missouri drivers can text and drive without facing legal consequences, Brown & Crouppen’s St. Louis, Missouri lawyers can hold negligent drivers accountable for St. Louis, Missouri, car accident injuries. We can gather evidence to prove that the other driver was texting while driving or engaging in another distraction when the accident occurred. This is generally enough to establish the driver’s fault or legal responsibility.
Illinois Texting and Driving Laws
Illinois’ texting and driving laws are much stricter than Missouri’s. As per 625 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/12-610.2, drivers are prohibited from using electronic communication devices while driving. This includes talking and texting on the phone. However, there are exceptions for making emergency calls, talking on the phone through Bluetooth, using GPS devices, and using hands-free devices.
Illinois also follows the doctrine of negligence per se. Under this principle, if a driver receives a ticket for texting and driving after causing an accident that injures you, that driver is automatically responsible for your injuries.
Compensation for Texting and Driving Accidents
Missouri follows a pure comparative negligence system, meaning you can receive compensation even if you are partially responsible for your accident. This means you can recover compensation even if you were 99 percent responsible for the auto crash. The damages you can recover are reduced in proportion to your share of the fault.
On the other hand, Illinois follows a modified comparative negligence scheme, which means you can only recover damages if you are less than 50 percent responsible for the accident.
You may receive the following types of compensation for texting and driving accidents in Missouri and Illinois:
- Economic damages: These include compensation for objectively verifiable losses such as past and future medical fees, loss of property, loss of past and future earnings, costs of replacement and repair, and loss of business opportunities or employment.
- Non-economic damages: These compensate you for subjective, non-monetary losses such as emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of companionship, and loss of enjoyment of life.
- Punitive or exemplary damages: These are awarded to punish negligent drivers for outrageous conduct or to deter others from repeating the misconduct in the future.
Why Hire an Attorney for a Texting and Driving Accident?
A trusted Kansas City, Missouri, car accident attorney can help you with your texting and driving accident in many ways, including:
- Give you care and support: A compassionate personal injury lawyer will provide you the assistance you need. Besides supplying legal services, your lawyer may connect you to additional experts, including health professionals and therapists.
- Prove negligence: Your lawyer can use their investigative skills to prove that the other driver was distracted by their phone when they caused your crash. They may locate eyewitnesses, look at the driver’s social media accounts to see if they posted shortly before the crash, obtain security camera footage, and subpoena the driver’s mobile phone records.
- Handle all legal research, communication, and documentation: Your lawyer will take care of these steps so you can focus on recovering and getting your life back together. They will also answer all of your legal questions and concerns.
- Determine maximum compensation for your losses: Your car accident attorney will consider many factors, including future medical expenses, pain and suffering, and future loss of income.
- Negotiate a fair settlement with insurance providers: Insurance providers often try to delay, deny, or underpay benefits. Your attorney can use their understanding of insurance policies and the law to secure fair compensation.
- Represent you at trial: If they cannot reach a fair settlement with the opposition, your personal injury lawyer can take your case to trial. Your lawyer will use their courtroom experience and knowledge to fight tooth and nail for your rights.
How Brown & Crouppen Can Help
If you were injured by a driver who was texting while driving, Brown & Crouppen’s St. Louis and Kansas City texting and driving accident lawyers can help you seek justice and financial compensation.
Since 1979, our compassionate and tenacious personal injury attorneys have helped numerous clients in southern Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas recover over $1 billion in compensation. With over 50 attorneys and 10 offices in the greater Kansas City and St. Louis area, we have the resources and expertise to get clients top results.
Call 888-802-0827 or fill in our contact form to book a free consultation with Brown & Crouppen’s award-winning team today. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you only pay if we win.
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