Distracted driving hurts thousands of Utahns each year, and the breaking of Utah Code Section 41-6a-1716, especially after a car accident, is a strong point in a case a Utah car accident attorney builds. This particular code states you can’t use your phone to manually text, email, browse the internet, take pictures, etc. Then the voice-to-text options and calls become hands-free on a mounted device. The first violation of this law costs $100. If the violation results in serious injury, the penalties increase, and the case a Utah car accident attorney builds based on this law violation becomes stronger.

Utah Hands-Free Laws and Their Limitations

Battling the offensive truth that a driver was on their phone when they crashed usually leads the Utah car accident attorney to request the phone records. Phone records show call and text log times that correlate with the crash time noted in the police report. App and data use can tell a story, as can a forensic exam of the phone, which can reveal what information was entered, how the phone was used (if at all), and whether messages were deleted.

Phone Records Tell the Story of Distraction

Drivers are often unwilling to admit they were distracted by their phones, but phone records will definitely show whether they were.

  • Records can be obtained showing calls and texts made and received by a driver in the minutes leading up to the crash.
  • Apps and data used may also show that the user was streaming, using social media, or using navigation.
  • Forensic analysis of the phone can be done to show activity, keystrokes that may have been made, and deleted messages.

Cell carrier data isn’t kept permanently. Experienced Utah car accident attorneys send preservation (spoliation) letters right away and then issue subpoenas for the records before they’re deleted. This is something injured victims can’t do on their own.

Why Acting Quickly is Necessary

Phone carriers do not keep records forever. Acting quickly after an accident may enable a Utah car accident attorney to preserve data before it is lost forever. The force of the “hands-free” statute, combined with Utah car carrier records, often can form the basis of a claim of distracted driving, rather than a claim based upon conjecture.