If you were hit by a driver who was looking at their phone, there’s a good chance you saw it coming. We see it every day: people staring at their phones when they should be watching the road. It’s frustrating, and it happens all over Dallas, from neighborhood intersections to I-35E.
So it’s no surprise that Dallas County had 5,587 crashes involving a distracted driver in 2025, according to TxDOT crash data. Those crashes killed 16 people and seriously injured 158 more.
Texting while driving is illegal here. Under Texas Transportation Code § 545.4251, drivers cannot read, write, or send electronic messages on a handheld device while the vehicle is moving. But the other driver’s insurance company won’t take your word for it. To recover compensation, you need evidence.
Here’s how to prove a driver was texting and what your personal injury attorney can do that you can’t.
Start Building Evidence at the Scene
If you’re able, pay attention to a few things at the scene:
- What the other driver says. “I only looked down for a second” or “Sorry, I was answering a text” are admissions. Write them down or record a voice memo as soon as you can.
- What you saw before the crash. If you noticed the driver looking down or holding a phone, write it down while it’s fresh.
- Skid marks, or the lack of them. No skid marks often means the driver never hit the brakes, which suggests they weren’t watching the road.
- Witnesses. Other drivers may have seen the person looking down. Get names and phone numbers before they leave.
Photograph and video the vehicles, the road, and anything in plain view inside the other car.
Get the Police Report (CR-3)
Whether Dallas Police, a Sheriff’s deputy, or a State Trooper responds to your crash, the officer fills out the same form: the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report, known as the CR-3. It lists contributing factors, including specific codes for cell phone use and texting.
A Dallas police report CR-3 that flags distracted driving helps your case, but don’t count on it. Officers arrive after the crash. Unless the driver admitted it or a witness spoke up, the officer may mark general inattention or leave that field blank.
You can usually request your CR-3 through TxDOT’s online crash report portal within a couple of weeks.
How Your Attorney Gets the Cell Phone Records
Phone records are often the strongest evidence in a texting case. People often ask how lawyers get phone records after a crash. In most cases, the other driver has to be legally required to turn them over.
The at-fault driver has every reason to keep their phone history private, and their insurance company will tell them not to share it. When the other driver disputes fault or the injuries are serious, your distracted driving accident attorney can use the legal process to get them:
- In the early stages of developing a claim, O’Hare and Koch send preservation (spoliation) letters to all the potentially responsible people or companies and their insurance companies. This puts them on notice to keep phone data intact. If evidence is destroyed after that notice, a Texas court can penalize the party responsible.
- If a lawsuit is necessary, O’Hare and Koch also use a subpoena or discovery requests to obtain phone records. We request call logs and text logs along with text messages from wireless carriers and/or the driver for a narrow window around the crash.
These records can include actual messages, but more often they show when texts were sent or received and when data was in use. If a text went out at 4:12:38 p.m. and the crash happened at 4:12:41 p.m., that’s hard for an insurance company to argue with.
Courts take privacy seriously, so requests have to be narrowly targeted in time. Our experienced distracted driving accident lawyer knows how to ask for the right records without handing the other side an easy objection.
Why EDR Black Box Data and Video Footage Matter
Most newer vehicles have an event data recorder, often called a black box. It captures the seconds right before a crash, including speed, braking, and throttle.
Vehicle EDR black box data in Texas cases can show a driver traveling at full speed with no braking close to or until impact. Paired with phone records, that’s strong evidence of distraction. In Texas, EDR data generally belongs to the vehicle owner, so getting it from the other driver’s car usually takes their consent, a subpoena, a discovery request, or a court order. Prompt action is required because this data can also be lost once a car is repaired or salvaged.
Video can be even more convincing:
- Dashcams from your car, the other car, or nearby drivers
- Business surveillance cameras at gas stations, shopping centers, and restaurants along the route
- TxDOT and city traffic cameras on major highways and intersections
Most businesses record over footage within days or weeks, and many traffic cameras stream live without saving anything. If a video exists, it needs to be requested right away.
What If the Driver Was on the Job?
If a delivery van, work truck, or other company vehicle hit you, the case can look different. The employer may share responsibility for the crash, and the company may have its own records, like dashcams, dispatch messages, and vehicle tracking data, that show what the driver was doing. Company vehicles also tend to carry more insurance coverage, which can mean more money available to cover your medical bills, lost wages, and other losses.
Why Insurance Companies Move Fast, and Why You Should Too
Insurance adjusters know texting and cell phone usage evidence can ruin their defense. That’s why they often call quickly, ask for a recorded statement, and look for ways to shift blame onto you. Under Texas law, any share of fault assigned to you reduces your compensation, and if you’re found more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing.
A driver denying they were on their phone isn’t the end of the story. It’s a starting point, and the evidence can prove otherwise.
The O’Hare and Koch Law Firm has spent more than 25 years building cases like this and winning settlements and judgments for our clients. You know what you saw. We know how to prove it.
If you were hit by a driver you believe was texting anywhere in North Texas, talk to us before you talk to their insurance company. We can send preservation letters, pursue phone records, and build the timeline that shows what really happened.
Your case review is free, there’s no obligation, and you don’t pay us a dime unless we win for you.
