Ohio's New Distracted-Driving Law Takes Effect Today: How It Helps Crash Victims Prove Fault

Published October 29, 2018 · New Laws

The driver who rear-ended you says traffic "just stopped." The driver who ran the red light says the sun was in her eyes. In many of these crashes, the real cause was a phone, a sandwich, a GPS screen or a passenger in the back seat. Until now, Ohio law had no general way to mark that a traffic violation happened because a driver was distracted.

That changes today. Starting October 29, 2018, House Bill 95 of the 132nd General Assembly adds a new section to Ohio's traffic code, R.C. 4511.991, that defines "distracted" driving and attaches an additional penalty when a distracted driver commits a moving violation. Here is what the new law does and why it matters to people hurt by careless drivers.

What the new law says

R.C. 4511.991 defines "distracted" as doing either of two things while operating a vehicle:

1. Using a handheld electronic wireless communications device, such as a phone, unless the driver is using a speakerphone, a short-range wireless connection like Bluetooth, a voice-operated or hands-free feature (touching the device only to turn a feature on or off), or a device built into the vehicle; or
2. "Engaging in any activity that is not necessary to the operation of a vehicle and impairs, or reasonably would be expected to impair," the driver's ability to drive safely.

That second category is broad. It is not limited to phones. Eating, grooming, reaching into the back seat, programming a navigation system, reading, or turning around to deal with passengers can all qualify if they impair, or would reasonably be expected to impair, safe driving.

How the penalty works

The law does not create a stand-alone "distracted driving" ticket. Instead, it adds an enhancement to a long list of existing moving violations. Those include speeding (R.C. 4511.21), failing to obey traffic-control devices (R.C. 4511.12), failing to stay in a marked lane (R.C. 4511.33), following too closely (R.C. 4511.34), failing to stop at a stop sign (R.C. 4511.43), and failing to move over for stopped emergency and service vehicles (R.C. 4511.213), among many others.

If a driver commits one of the listed violations while distracted, and the distraction was a contributing factor, the driver faces the usual penalty for the violation plus an additional fine of up to $100. Instead of paying that extra fine, the driver may complete a distracted-driving safety course established by the Director of Public Safety. According to the Ohio BMV's announcement of the new law, the course takes one hour. The driver still has to pay the fine for the underlying violation.

As the BMV's bulletin explains, officers no longer need to prove that a driver was texting; they need to establish the moving violation and that the driver was distracted.

Why a $100 fine matters to crash victims

For the driver, an extra $100 is a modest penalty. For a person hurt in a crash, the significance is different. A citation noting that the other driver was distracted and that the distraction contributed to the violation does several useful things:

It puts the distraction on the record at the scene. The officer has to note it on the ticket. Facts recorded on the day of the crash are much harder for the at-fault driver to walk back months later in a deposition.

It focuses the investigation. When an officer documents a distraction, it tells us exactly where to look: phone records, in-car video, witness statements, and the driver's own admissions at the scene.

It reinforces fault. In Ohio, violating a specific safety statute can establish negligence as a matter of law, a doctrine called negligence per se. I discussed how that doctrine works, and its limits, in an earlier post. A documented distraction shows why the driver broke the traffic law, which matters when the defense tries to blame road conditions, the weather or you.

It matters in insurance negotiations. Insurers know that juries react strongly to evidence that a driver was looking at a phone instead of the road. A well-documented distraction often changes how an adjuster values a claim.

A citation is not the whole case. Whether or not the officer writes "distracted" on the ticket, the facts behind the crash still have to be proven. But the new law gives officers a clear reason to ask the question, and that is good for injured people.

What the new law does not change

• The texting ban stays in place. Ohio's existing restrictions on texting while driving, which I wrote about when they were enacted in 2012, remain law. H.B. 95 builds on them.
• Your civil claim does not depend on a ticket. Many distracted drivers are never cited. You can still prove distraction with evidence gathered after the crash.

How we prove distraction after a crash

Distraction is often the hidden cause of a crash, and the at-fault driver rarely volunteers it. In a serious-injury case, we look for:

• The crash report and the officer's notes, including any citation under the new law and any statements the driver made at the scene;
• Cell phone records, which can show calls, texts and data use around the time of the collision. I explained how we obtain them in a 2017 post on phone records;
• Dash-camera, body-camera and nearby surveillance video;
• Vehicle data, which may show whether the driver braked before impact;
• Witnesses who saw the driver looking down or doing something else; and
• For commercial drivers, the company's own policies on phone use and any in-cab monitoring.

Much of this evidence has to be requested quickly, before phone records age out, video is overwritten, or vehicles are repaired.

What this means for you

As of today, Ohio officers have a specific tool to document that a driver who broke a traffic law was distracted when it happened. If you are hurt in a crash, ask the responding officer whether the other driver was using a phone or otherwise distracted, get the report number, and write down anything the driver said. Then let a lawyer gather the rest of the evidence while it still exists. Our page on distracted-driving crashes explains these claims in more detail.