Accidents Involving Cell Phones in Tennessee

Text messaging is prohibited while driving a car in Tennessee. Further, distracted driving itself is prohibited in Tennessee, so a person cannot be using their cell phone when behind the wheel. Drivers on learner’s permits are prohibited from using a cellphone at all while driving, as well as school bus operators while they are driving if a passenger is in the school bus.

This is a misdemeanor in Tennessee. An individual can be fined $50 plus quoted costs in some cases, $100 in other cases, and a person can go to jail. If you have been in an accident involving cell phones while driving in Tennessee, it is critical that you consult with an experienced attorney immediately.

Prohibited Behaviors

In Tennessee, a person can use their phone while driving. From a legal standpoint, the individual should use their device through their speakerphone.

It is illegal for an individual to text on their phone in Tennessee, or be distracted by any sort of application they may be using on their phone while driving. These sorts of behaviors can produce accidents involving cell phones in Tennessee.

Novice Drivers

In Tennessee, there is a graduated driver’s license program that goes in three steps. A person gets a learner’s permit, then an intermediate restricted license, an intermediate unrestricted license, and then after those three steps a person can get their full license.

In Tennessee, a novice is prohibited from using their cellphone in the car. They are also restricted on the time they can drive their car, and can only drive between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm. They have got to have this initial learner’s permit for at least 180 days before they can graduate to the next level, which is the intermediate restricted license. They can get that learner’s permit when they are 15.

Impact on a Claim

Individuals who use their cell phones while driving can more easily cause an accident than those not using their phone. Therefore, a lawyer will ask the plaintiff if they were on their cell phones while driving. If they were, they will try to make them appear to be at fault, the sole cause of accident, or at least partially at fault that they contributed to that accident.

It can help the injury claim of the plaintiff if the defendant was using their cell phone while driving, because people realize that a person is not as attentive and a person is not as safe a driver if a person is on a cellphone.

If an attorney has a client that was hit by a defendant who was talking on their cellphone or texting, a jury will be more likely to rule in their favor and sometimes can get punitive damages out of those cases. This is because people are losing patience and sympathy for individuals that are in accidents involving cellphones in Tennessee.

Both Parties Using Cell Phones

If both parties were distracted when in an accident involving cell phones in Tennessee, a judge or jury would have to determine who was at fault. A judge or jury will often say that they are equally at fault, and therefore, nobody is going to recover or they may just count the testimony of the people in the accident and just simply rule out solely on other evidence such as witnesses, photographs, and trying to determine themselves how the accident occurred.

Gathering Evidence

It is critical to see if the person was on the phone at the time of the accident. That can be done by obtaining the cellphone records through a subpoena to the company. A lawyer will also use experts before to obtain the cell phone and to download it to see if the individual was texting or on it at the time of the accident.

Obtaining Consent

A person can obtain consent from the person who has the phone, and then with that, send it directly to their phone company. If they will not consent, a person can still get those records. A person does not have to consent to that in an accident involving cell phones in Tennessee, but a person can obtain the records through a subpoena.