South Florida Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

What Counts as Distracted Driving in Florida?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration identifies three basic forms of driver distraction: Visual distraction (taking the eyes off the road); Manual distraction (taking one or both hands off the wheel); and Cognitive distraction (taking the mind off driving). Texting can combine all three. Other common distractions include reading email, scrolling social media, recording video, entering a destination into a navigation app, reaching for an object, eating, adjusting vehicle controls and interacting with passengers, children or pets. The traffic charge and the civil injury claim are separate. Conduct may support a negligence claim even when it does not fit the exact wording of Florida's texting statute or result in a citation. The central civil question is whether the driver failed to use reasonable care and whether that failure caused the collision and resulting injuries.

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Florida Texting and Driving Laws

Florida Statute 316.305

Florida Statute section 316.305, the Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law, generally prohibits operating a motor vehicle while manually typing or entering multiple characters or while sending or reading data for nonvoice interpersonal communication. Texting, email and instant messaging fall within the prohibition. Law enforcement may stop a driver based on an observed violation, so texting while driving is commonly described as a primary offense. The statute contains exceptions, including certain emergency reporting, safety and traffic messages, navigation use, qualifying voice-operated communication and operation of an autonomous vehicle with the automated driving system engaged. For purposes of this section, a stationary motor vehicle is not being operated. These exceptions may affect a traffic citation, but they do not give a driver permission to operate a vehicle carelessly.

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Florida Statute 316.306 for School and Work Zones

Florida Statute section 316.306 prohibits handheld use of a wireless communications device while a vehicle is moving in a designated school crossing, school zone or qualifying work zone. The work-zone provision applies when construction personnel are present or operating equipment on or immediately beside the road. Hands-free and voice-operated uses are among the statutory exceptions.

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Does Violating the Texting Law Automatically Prove Negligence?

Not necessarily. A traffic-statute violation may be evidence of negligence, but describing every violation of sections 316.305 or 316.306 as automatic “negligence per se” overstates Florida law. The legal effect depends on the statute, the evidence and the circumstances. An injured claimant must still prove that the driver's conduct caused the crash and the claimed losses. A citation is helpful but not required. Conversely, a citation does not by itself establish every element of a civil case. The available evidence should be evaluated independently from the traffic proceeding.

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How Do You Prove a Driver Was Texting or Distracted?

A strong texting-and-driving accident claim connects several sources of evidence to one reliable timeline.

Phone and Carrier Records

Call-detail and account records may show calls, texts or data activity near the time of a collision. Their usefulness varies by carrier and service. Data-session records generally do not identify every app used or prove that a driver physically handled the phone. Message content may not be available from a cellular carrier, particularly when communications traveled through an encrypted or third-party app. Records must be obtained through proper consent, subpoena, court order or other lawful process. Florida's distracted-driving statutes also restrict when billing records are admissible to prove the statutory traffic violation. Civil discovery is fact-specific, so requests should be targeted to the crash period and the information actually at issue.

The Phone and App Data

A properly scoped forensic examination may reveal device activity, notifications, application artifacts, screen events or message information, depending on the phone, settings, software, encryption and retention. It is rarely accurate to promise that an examination can establish “exactly” what was on the screen at impact. The examiner must interpret the available artifacts and explain both their meaning and limitations.

Vehicle Event Data and Infotainment Systems

Some vehicles contain an event data recorder that may preserve limited pre-crash information such as speed, brake application, throttle position or seat-belt status. The data fields, recording interval and triggering conditions vary by vehicle. An EDR does not record a driver's thoughts or prove phone use by itself. Infotainment and paired-device systems may contain additional artifacts. When reliable vehicle data show little or no braking before impact, those findings may support other evidence that the driver failed to perceive the hazard, although distraction is not the only possible explanation.

Video, Photographs and Witnesses

Dash cameras, doorbell cameras, business surveillance, intersection footage and traffic-management cameras may show a driver's head position, a phone in hand, signal timing or vehicle movement. South Florida recordings are often overwritten under short retention schedules. Locations near I-95, Florida's Turnpike, US 1, downtown Hollywood and busy corridors in Fort Lauderdale and Miami may have several potential video sources, but each must be located and contacted promptly.

Passengers, pedestrians and other motorists may have seen the driver looking down or holding a device. Police body-camera footage, 911 recordings and statements made at the scene may also identify distraction, subject to applicable evidentiary rules.

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Preserving Cell-Phone and Crash Evidence

Preservation should begin early. A written notice can demand that a driver, vehicle owner, employer or other custodian retain potentially relevant material, including the phone, account information, dash-camera video, vehicle data and company communications. A preservation request does not guarantee that a carrier or social-media platform has the material, does not replace formal discovery and cannot require a third party to disclose information protected by law. Courts evaluate alleged spoliation based on issues such as the duty to preserve, importance of the missing evidence, prejudice and level of fault. An adverse inference, evidence sanction or other relief is possible in an appropriate case, but severe sanctions are not automatic merely because data are unavailable. An injured person should preserve their own phone, photographs, messages, location information and vehicle as well. Selective preservation can damage credibility, and deleting material after a dispute is reasonably foreseeable may create a separate evidentiary problem.

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Privacy and Discovery of a Driver's Phone

Florida recognizes a constitutional right of privacy. Courts generally disfavor unlimited demands for an opposing party's entire phone history or a complete forensic image unrelated to the accident. A focused request—limited by time, account, application or type of activity—is more likely to balance relevance with privacy. Content held by an electronic service provider can also implicate the federal Stored Communications Act. A civil subpoena may not compel a platform to disclose every private communication. Depending on the circumstances, information may instead be pursued from the account holder, through consent or through a request for noncontent records the law permits the provider to produce.

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Who May Be Liable for a Distracted-Driving Crash?

The Distracted Driver

The driver is the primary potential defendant when inattention causes a rear-end collision, intersection crash, unsafe lane change, pedestrian impact or other wreck. Liability still requires proof of duty, breach, causation and damages.

An Employer

An employer may be vicariously liable when an employee causes a crash while acting within the course and scope of employment. Relevant facts can include whether the driver was making a delivery, traveling between assignments, communicating with a dispatcher or carrying out another business purpose. A work-related message is useful evidence, but employer liability does not turn on that fact alone.

Separate theories such as negligent hiring, retention, training or supervision require their own support. Commercial-vehicle cases may also involve dispatch logs, telematics, driver-monitoring video and mobile-device policies. Learn more on the firm's Florida truck accident lawyer page.

A Vehicle Owner

Florida's dangerous-instrumentality doctrine can impose vicarious liability on an owner who voluntarily entrusts a vehicle to another person, subject to statutory and common-law limitations. Ownership, consent, rental status and any applicable liability cap must be examined rather than assumed.

A Parent or Guardian Who Signed a Minor's Application

Under Florida Statute section 322.09, the negligence or willful misconduct of a driver under 18 may be imputed to the adult who signed the minor's license application, subject to the statute's terms and exceptions. A separate negligent-entrustment claim requires evidence that the person supplying the vehicle knew or should have known the driver was incompetent or unfit.

A Government Entity

A crash caused by a city, county or state employee can implicate Florida Statute section 768.28. Sovereign-immunity limits, presuit notice and waiting requirements apply. Notice generally must be presented within three years after a negligence claim accrues, while wrongful-death notice generally must be presented within two years. These notice periods are separate from the deadline for filing suit.

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Commercial Drivers and Federal Mobile-Phone Rules

49 C.F.R. section 392.80 prohibits texting while driving a commercial motor vehicle, subject to an emergency-services exception. 49 C.F.R. section 392.82 restricts handheld mobile-telephone use. For these rules, “driving” can include being temporarily stopped because of traffic, a traffic-control device or another momentary delay. It does not include a vehicle stopped where it can safely remain stationary off the highway. A motor carrier may also violate the rules if it allows or requires prohibited conduct. Regulatory evidence can inform a civil case, but the claimant must still prove causation and damages.

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Comparative Fault in a Florida Distracted-Driving Case

Florida Statute section 768.81 generally prevents a negligence claimant found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm from recovering damages. A claimant who is 50 percent or less at fault may have damages reduced by their percentage of responsibility. The statutory bar does not apply to an action for medical negligence. Insurers may argue that the injured driver was speeding, following too closely, looking at a phone or failing to avoid the impact. Scene photographs, video, witness accounts, vehicle data and reconstruction evidence can matter on both sides of the fault analysis.

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Can Texting Support Punitive Damages?

Punitive damages are not available in every distracted-driving accident. Under Florida Statute section 768.72, a claimant must make a reasonable evidentiary showing before pleading punitive damages. The statute requires proof of intentional misconduct or gross negligence under its definitions. Evidence of prolonged or repeated phone use, a known extreme risk, prior warnings or other aggravating circumstances may support the analysis, but ordinary inattention or the mere fact that a text was sent does not automatically establish gross negligence.

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Insurance Coverage and Recoverable Damages

A distracted-driving claim may involve the at-fault driver's bodily-injury coverage, the vehicle owner's policy, commercial or employer coverage and the injured person's uninsured or underinsured motorist protection. Florida does not require every private passenger-vehicle owner to carry bodily-injury liability coverage, so early policy and asset investigation can be critical. The firm's uninsured motorist claim guide explains why UM and UIM coverage can matter. Recoverable damages may include medical expenses, lost income, diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement and loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life. In motor-vehicle cases governed by Florida's no-fault threshold, noneconomic damages ordinarily require proof of a qualifying injury under Florida Statute section 627.737.

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Important Florida Deadlines

The 14-Day PIP Treatment Requirement

Under Florida Statute section 627.736, PIP benefits generally are not payable unless an injured person receives qualifying initial services and care within 14 days. PIP can provide up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits, but benefits may be limited to $2,500 when no authorized provider determines that the person had an emergency medical condition. Coverage and eligibility depend on the policy and statute.

The Negligence Statute of Limitations

Florida generally provides two years to file an action founded on negligence under Florida Statute section 95.11. The two-year period applies to negligence causes accruing after the March 24, 2023 effective date of the amendment; earlier claims may be governed by the former limitations period. Wrongful-death actions are also generally subject to a two-year deadline. Exceptions and different deadlines can apply.

The filing deadline is not a safe evidence-preservation schedule. Surveillance, electronic information and vehicles may become unavailable far sooner.

Insurance Demands and Bad Faith

A time-limited demand must be accurate, supported and consistent with Florida insurance law. Florida's principal statutory bad-faith framework appears in section 624.155, including notice and cure provisions. The 2023 amendments also created safe-harbor procedures involving tender within 90 days after actual notice of a claim accompanied by sufficient evidence. Bad faith is fact-dependent and should not be promised merely because liability appears clear.

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What to Do After a Suspected Texting-and-Driving Crash

1. Call 911 and obtain needed medical care.

2. Photograph the vehicles, roadway, traffic controls and visible injuries if safe.

3. Identify witnesses and nearby cameras.

4. Do not confront the other driver or try to inspect their phone.

5. Preserve your vehicle, phone, photographs, messages and insurance documents.

6. Seek qualifying medical care within 14 days if you may need PIP benefits.

7. Report the crash to your insurer as the policy requires.

8. Speak with a Florida car accident lawyer promptly about evidence, coverage and deadlines.

For a broader checklist, visit the firm's Hollywood car accident lawyer guide.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is texting while driving a primary offense in Florida?

Yes. An officer may stop a driver based on an observed violation of section 316.305 without first observing a separate traffic offense.

Can I bring a claim if the driver used a hands-free phone?

Potentially. A hands-free call or voice-operated feature may be lawful, but legal use does not resolve civil negligence. The evidence must still show that the driver's inattention contributed to the crash.

Can a lawyer get the other driver's text messages?

Sometimes, but access is neither automatic nor unlimited. Relevant records may be sought through preservation requests, party discovery, subpoenas, consent or court orders. Privacy law, proportionality and provider retention can limit what is available.

How soon should phone evidence be requested?

As soon as reasonably possible. Retention varies by device, account, provider and data type. No single purge period applies to every carrier or application.

Can an employer be liable for an employee's distracted driving?

Yes, when the employee acted within the course and scope of employment, and potentially under a properly supported direct-negligence theory. Commuting and personal-deviation issues can complicate the analysis.

What if the distracted driver received no ticket?

A civil claim may still proceed. Officers do not always witness phone use or obtain the evidence needed for a citation. Civil liability depends on admissible evidence, not solely on a ticket.

How long do I have to sue?

Most Florida negligence actions accruing after March 24, 2023 must be filed within two years, but exceptions and shorter procedural deadlines can apply. Evidence should be preserved immediately.

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Speak Directly With a South Florida Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

If you were injured by a driver who was texting, using social media, handling a phone, programming a navigation system, or otherwise distracted in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Dania Beach, Aventura, Broward County, Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County, Monroe County, the Florida Keys, or elsewhere in South Florida, contact Daniel B Reinfeld, PA for a free consultation. You will speak directly with Dan—not a call center or intake department. The firm also investigates distracted-driving crashes involving tractor-trailers, rental trucks, delivery vehicles, and other commercial vehicles as part of its Florida truck accident practice. Free consultations are available by telephone, Zoom video conference, hospital visit, or home visit when appropriate. There is no attorney’s fee unless compensation is recovered. Evening and weekend appointments are available.  CALL Dan:  📞 (954) 923-6110