New Hampshire banned handheld cell phone use behind the wheel back in 2015, yet distracted driving remains one of the most common causes of serious crashes across the state. That gap between the law on paper and what actually happens on the road is where most distracted driving injury claims begin. Coates Law Office, PLLC, based in Nashua and serving clients throughout New Hampshire, has attorney Bradford H. Coates build these cases around both the traffic violation and the broader pattern of carelessness it usually represents.
A cell phone car accident lawyer Nashua drivers turn to after a crash understands that a phone violation alone rarely wins a case on its own, but it becomes a genuinely powerful piece of evidence once paired with the right supporting documentation, gathered before phone records disappear or witness memories fade.
These crashes happen everywhere, from a quick trip across downtown Nashua to a highway commute on I-93, and they tend to share a common thread: a driver whose attention left the road for just long enough to miss something obvious. A texting while driving accident attorney in New Hampshire, families rely on the same treatment that splits-second lapse, the same way any other form of negligence gets treated, with a thorough investigation into what actually happened.
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Is Texting While Driving Illegal in New Hampshire?
Yes, New Hampshire law has banned handheld cell phone use while driving since July 2015. Under RSA 265:79-c, drivers cannot text, read messages, browse the internet, or hold a phone to their ear while a vehicle is moving or briefly stopped in traffic.
The law reaches further than most drivers realize. It covers composing or reading any electronic message, manually inputting a destination into a GPS app, and initiating a phone call by hand, though hands-free calling and dashboard-mounted navigation remain legal. Drivers under 18 face an even stricter standard, since New Hampshire bars them from using a phone at all while driving, hands-free or not, except to report an emergency.
Violations carry fines of $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second, and $500 for any offense after that within 24 months. Those numbers matter less on their own than what a citation represents in a civil injury case: a documented finding that the other driver broke a specific safety law at the moment of the crash.
The distinction between a texting ban and New Hampshire’s actual law matters for anyone researching their case. Many states only prohibit typing or sending text messages while allowing handheld calls, but New Hampshire’s law goes further, restricting nearly all handheld phone functions rather than singling out texting specifically. That broader scope gives an injury claim more room to argue distraction even in cases where the other driver was not necessarily composing a message at the moment of impact.
Major Types of Driver Distraction Behind New Hampshire Crashes
Texting and phone use get the most attention, but distraction takes several forms that show up regularly in the crashes our firm investigates. Understanding which type applies to your case shapes what evidence actually proves it.
Texting and app use pull a driver’s eyes, hands, and attention off the road at the same time, which is why this category carries more weight in a claim than a distraction that affects only one of the three. GPS interaction follows a similar pattern, particularly when a driver manually types an address rather than using voice commands or a pre-set route, a habit RSA 265:79-c specifically addresses.
Eating, drinking, and grooming behind the wheel pull a driver’s hands and attention away more subtly, often without leaving the kind of digital record a phone creates, which makes these cases harder to prove but no less dangerous. Passenger distraction, whether from a conversation, a child in the back seat, or an argument, rounds out the most common categories, and while it carries no specific traffic citation, it remains fully relevant to a negligence claim.
Rubbernecking and mental distraction round out a less obvious category worth naming. A driver who slows to look at a crash scene, a police stop, or roadside construction on the opposite side of the highway can lose focus just as effectively as someone glancing at a phone, and these incidents show up regularly in the multi-vehicle pileups our firm investigates on stretches of I-93 and the Everett Turnpike.
Fatigue often overlaps with distraction in ways that are easy to overlook. A driver fighting to stay awake tends to drift toward other distractions, reaching for music, food, or a phone in an effort to stay alert, which compounds the underlying danger rather than solving it. Identifying which category or combination of categories applies to your crash shapes both the legal theory and the evidence an attorney needs to gather.
How Do You Prove a Driver Was Distracted in NH?
Proving distraction usually requires combining several pieces of evidence rather than relying on any single source. The strongest distracted driving cases typically draw on:
- Phone records obtained through a subpoena, which show call and text timestamps that can be matched against the exact moment of the crash
- Witness testimony from other drivers, passengers, or pedestrians who observed the at-fault driver looking down, drifting, or failing to react to obvious hazards
- Dash cam or traffic camera footage from either vehicle or a nearby intersection, which can capture the crash itself, along with the moments leading up to it
- The police report, which often documents an officer’s on-scene observations, admissions made by the driver, or a citation issued under RSA 265:79-c on the state’s uniform accident report
No single piece of evidence tells the whole story on its own, which is why building a distracted driving case usually means gathering several of these sources before they disappear or become harder to access.
Does a Texting Violation Automatically Prove Fault in a Crash?
Not automatically, but it carries significant weight. A citation under RSA 265:79-c documents that the other driver broke a specific safety law at the time of the crash, and that violation becomes strong evidence of negligence even though New Hampshire courts still require the full negligence elements to be established.
Insurance companies sometimes argue that a phone violation alone does not prove the phone use actually caused the crash, pushing instead toward other explanations like road conditions or a sudden mechanical issue. Countering that argument usually means tying the timing of the phone activity directly to the moment of impact, which is exactly what subpoenaed phone records and reconstructed timelines are built to show.
Timing matters more than the violation itself in these arguments. A text sent 30 seconds before a crash tells a very different story than one sent 30 minutes earlier, and an imprecise timeline is the first thing the defense will test. Building a case that pins down exactly when the phone activity occurred, and how that moment lines up with the crash, is often the difference between a citation that gets acknowledged and one that gets argued away.
How Our Firm Builds a Distracted Driving Claim
Bradford Coates spent years as a criminal prosecutor before representing injured drivers, and that background shapes how he pursues distracted driving evidence specifically. He understands the subpoena process for phone records, how to work with law enforcement on citation documentation, and how insurance defense attorneys typically try to poke holes in a distraction theory.
Our firm moves quickly to send preservation letters and request records before cell carriers or businesses with camera footage discard the data on a routine schedule. Many distracted driving cases overlap with other car accidents and crash types our Nashua firm regularly handles, including rear-end collisions, since a driver glancing at a phone often fails to notice stopped traffic ahead until it is too late.
That overlap shapes how we approach evidence gathering from the start. A rear-end crash caused by a distracted driver benefits from the same following-distance analysis used in any tailgating case, combined with the phone record subpoenas specific to a distraction claim, giving your attorney two independent legal theories to support the same underlying facts.
We handle these claims on contingency, meaning you owe nothing upfront and pay fees only if we recover compensation on your behalf. Contact our office to discuss what happened in your crash.
Is There a Deadline to File a Distracted Driving Injury Claim in NH?
Yes, New Hampshire generally allows three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit under RSA 508:4. Phone records and camera footage disappear far sooner than that deadline, though, which is why waiting even a few weeks to involve an attorney can weaken an otherwise strong case.
New Hampshire’s modified comparative fault rule under RSA 507:7-d also applies to distracted driving claims the same way it applies to any other crash. If you share some responsibility for the collision, your recovery gets reduced by your percentage of fault, but you can still recover as long as your share does not exceed the other driver’s. If the distracted driver had insufficient coverage for your injuries, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may fill that gap, which is worth reviewing early rather than assuming a citation alone secures full payment.
FAQs: Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer NH
These come up most often once a driver starts asking how distraction actually gets proven.
What happens if a distracted driver hits me in NH?
You can pursue a personal injury claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance company, using the traffic citation and other evidence of distraction to support your case. If the driver was uninsured or carried limits too low to cover your damages, your own policy’s uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, often shortened to UM/UIM, may become the primary path to compensation instead.
Can I get a driver’s phone records in a car accident case?
Yes, an attorney can subpoena cell phone carrier records once a lawsuit is officially filed, showing call and text activity around the exact time of the crash. These records often become central evidence, particularly when the other driver denies using their phone at the moment of impact.
What if the police did not cite the other driver for phone use?
A missing citation does not end the case, since officers do not always witness phone use directly or may focus on other, more visible violations at the scene. Civil claims rely on a broader range of evidence than a criminal citation requires, so an attorney can still build a strong case through records and witness accounts.
Does New Hampshire’s hands-free law apply to hands-free calling?
Generally, no, adult drivers may use hands-free calling and voice-activated features without violating the law, though drivers under 18 face a stricter rule that bans phone use of any kind while driving. Even legal hands-free use can still support a distraction argument if evidence shows it diverted the driver’s attention at a critical moment before the crash.
How is a distracted driving claim different from a typical car accident case?
The core process is similar, but distracted driving cases involve additional evidence gathering specific to proving what the other driver was doing at the moment of the crash. That extra layer of investigation, particularly around phone records and camera footage, often takes more time upfront but can meaningfully strengthen the overall claim once negotiations with the insurance company begin.
Talk to a Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer Today
Bradford H.
Coates, Distracted Driving Accident Attorney
If a driver on their phone caused your crash, Bradford H. Coates and the team at Coates Law Office, PLLC are ready to review the evidence and explain your options. The consultation costs nothing, and you decide afterward whether hiring our firm makes sense for your situation.
Phone records and traffic camera footage do not last forever. Every week that passes increases the chance that a carrier or business erases the data as part of routine cycling, and that evidence does not come back. Schedule your free case evaluation today before that evidence disappears for good.
Nashua Office
400 Amherst Street, Suite 102
Nashua, NH 03063
(603) 262-5766