Distracted Driving Accident Attorneys

Distracted Driving Accidents in Kentucky

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Driver looking at a phone while driving on a highway

Kentucky Texting and Driving Laws

Kentucky passed its texting-while-driving ban in 2010. KRS 189.292 bars any driver of a motor vehicle in motion on the traveled portion of a roadway from writing, sending, or reading text-based communication, such as a text message, instant message, or email, on a personal communication device. The ban does not apply to a device’s GPS feature, a navigation system built into the vehicle, reading, selecting, or entering a phone number or name to make a call, an emergency or public safety vehicle operator using the device for official duties, or a text sent to report illegal activity, summon medical help or law enforcement, or prevent injury to a person or property.

For a driver under 18 with an instruction permit, intermediate license, or operator’s license, KRS 189.294 bars any use of a personal communication device while driving, except to summon medical help or law enforcement in an emergency. A stand-alone or built-in navigation system and CB or amateur radio are excluded, and manually entering information into a phone’s GPS feature counts as use.

Under KRS 189.990(30), a violation of KRS 189.292 or 189.294 carries a $25 fine for a first offense and $50 for each later offense, and 601 KAR 13:025 assigns three points to a license for texting while driving.

Negligence Per Se in a Distracted Driving Case

Under Kentucky’s negligence per se doctrine, a driver who violates a statute designed to protect others from harm, such as KRS 189.292, is negligent as a matter of law. KRS 446.070 lets a person injured by the violation of a statute recover the damages sustained because of the violation. The injured person does not have to prove separately that the driver was unreasonably careless, and still has to show the violation caused the injury.

Three Types of Distraction

Distraction comes in three main types: visual distraction, taking your eyes off the road to read a text or check GPS; manual distraction, taking your hands off the wheel to eat or adjust the radio; and cognitive distraction, taking your mind off driving during a phone call or an intense conversation. Texting combines all three. In naturalistic driving studies, texting made the risk of a crash or near-crash 23.2 times as high for truck drivers, and dialing a phone made it 2.8 times as high for car drivers, compared with non-distracted driving. Hands-free phone use still produces cognitive distraction that measurably slows reaction time, enough at highway speeds to travel a significant distance without full awareness of the road ahead.

In 2023, 3,275 people were killed in distraction-affected crashes nationally, roughly 8% of all traffic fatalities that year, with cellphone use a factor in 12% of those fatal distracted crashes.

Distracted Driving Evidence

Evidence of distraction usually comes from several sources, since most drivers will not admit it. Phone records and carrier data obtained through formal legal discovery can show call logs, text message timestamps, and app activity at the time of the accident, and deleted messages can sometimes be recovered through the carrier.

Traffic camera footage, when preserved before it is overwritten, and independent witness accounts corroborate the phone records. In some cases, a vehicle’s event data recorder shows that a driver braked late or failed to react at a point where an attentive driver would have, which can support a distraction argument even without direct phone evidence.

Damages in a Distracted Driving Accident

An injured person in a Kentucky distracted driving accident can pursue the same damages available in any car accident case: medical expenses, lost wages and reduced earning capacity, and pain and suffering once the injuries clear Kentucky’s tort threshold under KRS 304.39-060. A negligence per se finding tied to a proven distracted driving violation, with causation shown, can simplify the liability side of the case and move the focus to documenting the full extent of the harm.

How Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers Handles Distracted Driving Accident Cases

Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers builds distracted driving cases around phone records, traffic camera footage, and witness accounts.

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  • Dedicated three-person team: a top-rated attorney, an experienced case manager, and a skilled legal assistant.
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Phone records and carrier data in a distracted driving case come through formal legal discovery, and traffic camera footage can be overwritten. Ask Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers for a free case review after a distracted driver hit you.

Key Takeaways

KRS 189.292 bars texting while driving for all Kentucky drivers, with exceptions for GPS, making a call, and emergencies, and KRS 189.294 bars licensed or permitted drivers under 18 from using a personal communication device while driving except to contact emergency services.
Under Kentucky’s negligence per se doctrine, a proven violation of a safety statute such as KRS 189.292 establishes negligence as a matter of law.

Was the Other Driver on Their Phone?

Kentucky bans texting while driving, and when the driver who hit you broke that law, the violation itself can support your case. Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers seeks phone records, witness accounts and any available video to show what the driver was doing in the seconds before impact. You pay $0 Out-Of-Pocket Forever, and the flat contingency fee never increases, even if your case goes to trial. Call today for a free case review.

Frequently Asked Questions

1What does Kentucky’s texting-while-driving law prohibit?+
KRS 189.292 bars any driver of a moving vehicle on the traveled portion of a roadway from writing, sending, or reading text-based communication, such as a text message, instant message, or email, on a personal communication device. It does not apply to GPS use, reading, selecting, or entering a phone number or name to make a call, emergency and public safety vehicle operators on duty, or a text sent to report illegal activity, reach medical or law enforcement responders, or prevent injury. Drivers 18 and older are not barred by KRS 189.292 from phone calls.
2What is negligence per se, and how does it apply to a distracted driving accident?+
Under Kentucky’s negligence per se doctrine, a driver who violates a statute designed to protect others from harm, such as KRS 189.292, is negligent as a matter of law. The injured person does not have to prove separately that the driver was unreasonably careless, and still has to show the violation caused the injury.
3What are the three types of driving distraction?+
Distraction comes in three main types: visual distraction, taking your eyes off the road;
4Does hands-free phone use eliminate distraction while driving?+
No. Hands-free phone use still produces cognitive distraction that slows reaction time, because the driver’s attention is divided between the conversation and the road even with both hands on the wheel.
5How is distracted driving proven in a Kentucky car accident case?+
Distracted driving is proven through phone records and carrier data obtained through formal legal discovery, traffic camera footage, witness accounts, and in some cases vehicle event data showing that a driver failed to brake or react at a point where an attentive driver would have.