New York City Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

Driver distraction is commonly divided into three categories: visual distraction, which takes a driver’s eyes away from the road; manual distraction, which takes one or both hands away from controlling the vehicle; and cognitive distraction, which takes the driver’s mind away from the task of driving. Some activities involve more than one form of distraction at the same time.

Common Forms of Distracted Driving

Texting and Messaging
Reading, writing, or sending a message can require a driver to look away from traffic, use a hand to operate the device, and concentrate on the communication instead of driving.

Handheld Phone Calls
Holding or operating a phone can interfere with a driver’s ability to maintain attention and control of the vehicle.

Email, Web, and Social Media Use
Reading email, browsing websites, checking social media, or interacting with apps can divert a driver’s eyes and attention from changing traffic conditions.

GPS and Navigation Systems
Entering a destination, searching for a location, or repeatedly looking at navigation instructions can distract a driver from pedestrians, cyclists, traffic signals, and surrounding vehicles.

Taking Photos or Video
Using a device to photograph, record, or view images while driving can create significant visual and manual distraction.

Eating and Drinking
Opening food, handling containers, cleaning spills, or reaching for a drink can require a driver to take a hand from the wheel or look away from traffic.

Passengers and Other In-Vehicle Distractions
Conversations, children, pets, objects inside the vehicle, entertainment systems, and other activities can divert a driver’s attention even when no phone is involved.

A conviction for a cell phone, portable electronic device, or texting violation results in five driver violation points in New York. Depending on prior violations and other circumstances, fines and additional penalties may also apply.

It is important, however, to distinguish unsafe distraction from a violation of a particular electronic-device statute. A driver can become dangerously distracted while eating, interacting with passengers, reaching for an object, or engaging in other conduct that may not itself constitute a handheld-device violation.

A Distracted Driving Ticket Does Not Automatically Decide an Injury Claim

A traffic citation can be important evidence, but a ticket by itself does not automatically determine every issue in a personal injury case. A distracted driving accident claim may still require evidence establishing how the crash occurred, who was responsible, whether the negligent conduct caused the collision, the nature of the injuries, and the damages resulting from them.

Cell Phone and Carrier Records

Depending on the circumstances, records associated with a driver’s mobile phone or wireless account may provide information relevant to activity around the time of a crash. However, different records reveal different things, and the existence of carrier records does not necessarily mean they will show everything that occurred on a device.

Witness Statements

Passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, occupants of other vehicles, or people near the crash may have seen the driver holding a phone, looking downward, reaching for something, eating, or otherwise failing to watch the roadway.

Surveillance and Video Evidence

Footage from nearby businesses, residential buildings, dashcams, and other cameras may help show a vehicle’s movement or a driver’s conduct before a collision. In a densely developed city such as New York, identifying potential video sources can be an important part of an early investigation.

Police Reports and Driver Statements

Statements made by drivers and witnesses, observations recorded during the police investigation, and admissions made at or after the scene may provide evidence concerning distraction.

Vehicle and Electronic Data

Depending on the vehicle and circumstances, available data may provide information concerning speed, braking, steering, or other vehicle activity leading up to a collision. This evidence may help investigators understand how and when a driver reacted to a developing hazard.

Photographs and Physical Evidence

Photographs of the vehicles and scene, objects inside a vehicle, damage patterns, and other physical evidence may provide additional context when determining how a collision occurred.

Accident Reconstruction

In serious or disputed crashes, accident reconstruction professionals may analyze vehicle damage, roadway evidence, video, electronic data, and other information to evaluate vehicle movements and driver actions before impact.

Courts can reject requests for cell phone information that amount to speculation or an unsupported fishing expedition. For that reason, evidence suggesting that a driver may actually have been using a phone around the time of the collision can become particularly important.

Evidence supporting a request for phone-related information might include:

• A witness who saw the driver holding or looking at a phone
• An admission made by the driver
• Police observations or information recorded during the crash investigation
• Video footage
• Testimony or statements concerning phone use
• Other circumstances indicating that electronic-device activity may be relevant

It is also important to understand the limitations of the evidence. Cellular carrier records and information stored on the physical device are not necessarily the same thing. In one New York appellate case involving a motor vehicle collision, carrier records established that the driver was not talking on the phone at the time of the accident but did not reveal whether the driver had opened or sent text messages during the relevant period.

That is why distracted-driving cases are rarely about obtaining one single record. A stronger investigation may involve combining electronic evidence with witnesses, video, physical evidence, statements, and the circumstances of the crash.

Witness statements, surveillance or dashcam footage, police observations, electronic records, vehicle data, physical evidence, admissions made at another time, and accident reconstruction findings may all become relevant depending on the circumstances.

A witness, for example, may have seen the driver looking down immediately before impact. Video may show that the vehicle continued through an intersection without an apparent reaction to changing traffic conditions. Electronic information may provide another piece of the timeline. No single type of evidence necessarily determines the case.

The central question is not simply whether the driver admits being distracted. It is what the available evidence shows about the driver’s attention and actions immediately before the collision.

Electronic information also varies considerably in how it is created, stored, and retained. There is no single retention period that applies to every phone, carrier, application, vehicle, surveillance system, or other electronic source.

Potential evidence may be controlled by many different people or organizations, including another driver, a wireless carrier, a business with surveillance cameras, a rideshare or delivery company, a vehicle owner, or another third party.

For that reason, an early investigation can focus on identifying what evidence may exist, who possesses it, and what steps may be available to preserve it before potentially important information is lost.