Tennessee Distracted Driving Laws and Your Claim

You were stopped at a red light. Or coming through an intersection. Or merging onto I-40. The driver who hit you didn’t even hit the brakes — because their head was down, their thumbs were moving, and the road wasn’t getting their attention.

In Tennessee, that’s not just dangerous. It’s a crime. And it’s one of the most powerful pieces of evidence you can have in a personal injury case.

Tennessee’s Hands-Free Law

Since July 1, 2019, Tennessee Code § 55-8-199 — known as the “Hands-Free Law” — has prohibited drivers from holding any cell phone or wireless device while behind the wheel. The law is intentionally broad. It’s not just about texting.

The statute makes it illegal to:

• Hold a cellphone or mobile device with any part of your body
• Read, write, or send a text, email, or instant message
• Reach for a device in a way that takes you out of your seat or requires you to unbuckle
• Watch a video or movie on a device
• Record or broadcast video while driving

The only handheld interaction that’s legal is a single tap or swipe of a device that’s already mounted on the windshield, dashboard, or center console — and even that can’t activate camera, video, or gaming features.

The Penalties for Distracted Driving in Tennessee

A violation of § 55-8-199 is a Class C misdemeanor, with fines that scale based on the circumstances:

• $50 for a typical first or second violation
• $100 if it’s a third (or later) offense or if the violation resulted in an accident
• $200 if the violation occurred in an active work zone or marked school zone with flashers operating

A conviction also adds three points to the driver’s license. And under the Eddie Conrad Act (effective January 1, 2024), a driver under 18 who commits a second or subsequent violation gets seven points — enough to put them in jeopardy of license suspension.

The Eddie Conrad Act is named for a young man killed in 2020 by a distracted driver who rear-ended his vehicle, pushing him into oncoming traffic. His family pushed for the harsher penalties.

Just How Bad Is It in Tennessee?

The numbers are jarring, even by national standards.

• The Tennessee Highway Patrol reports the state’s distracted driving rate is roughly five times the national average.
• According to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, there were 9,873 distracted driving crashes in 2023 — roughly one every 53 minutes, every day, all year.
• Drivers ages 20 to 34 made up more than 37% of distracted drivers in Tennessee crashes in 2023.
• At highway speed, taking your eyes off the road for the average 5 seconds it takes to read a text means traveling roughly the length of a football field blindfolded.

Tennessee’s permissive geography of long highways, dense city corridors like I-24, I-40, I-65, and the Nashville Briley Parkway loop makes the consequences of a distracted second more severe than in slower urban environments.

Why a Distracted Driving Violation Is Worth So Much in Your Civil Case

Here’s what most people don’t realize: a citation under § 55-8-199 isn’t just a traffic ticket. It’s potential evidence of negligence per se.

Negligence per se is a legal doctrine that says when someone violates a safety statute meant to protect people like you from harm exactly like the harm you suffered, that violation is itself proof of negligence. The statute does the work for you. You don’t have to prove the driver was being unreasonable in some general sense — you point to the law and the violation, and the burden shifts.

Tennessee courts apply negligence per se when:

1. The defendant violated a statute or regulation
2. The injured plaintiff was within the class of persons the statute was designed to protect
3. The injury suffered was the type the statute was designed to prevent

Tennessee’s Hands-Free Law was enacted explicitly to reduce distracted driving deaths and injuries. If the driver who hit you was holding a phone, the analysis is straightforward.

Other Forms of Distracted Driving That Aren’t Covered by the Statute

The Hands-Free Law focuses on phones and wireless devices. But “distracted driving” is broader. Other behaviors that frequently show up in Tennessee crash investigations:

• Eating and drinking while driving
• Adjusting the radio, climate controls, or navigation
• Grooming — applying makeup, shaving, brushing hair
• Reading maps, documents, or printed material
• Reaching for items in the back seat or floorboard
• Pets in the driver’s lap or moving freely in the cab
• Conversation with passengers when it leads to looking away from the road
• Daydreaming or “highway hypnosis”

These don’t trigger negligence per se under § 55-8-199, but they can still establish ordinary negligence — the failure to use reasonable care behind the wheel.

Evidence That Proves Distracted Driving in a Civil Case

Insurance companies don’t just take your word for it. Here’s what your attorney will be looking for to build the proof:

1. The Driver’s Cell Phone Records

A subpoena to the at-fault driver’s mobile carrier can produce call logs, text logs, data usage records, and — in some cases — the timestamps of specific apps in use at the moment of the crash. Records typically need to be requested early; carriers don’t keep this data forever.

2. The Vehicle’s Infotainment System and Black Box

Modern cars store extensive data: speed, brake application, throttle position, steering input, seat belt use, and connection to a paired phone. Many newer vehicles also log Bluetooth-connected phone activity. A forensic download from the vehicle’s event data recorder (“black box”) can be devastating in court.

3. App Data and Phone Forensics

In serious cases, a court can order the at-fault driver’s phone to be examined by a digital forensic expert. Apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Waze, and even car infotainment apps often store time-stamped activity that can be matched against the moment of impact.

4. Witness Statements

Other drivers, pedestrians, and passengers in either vehicle may have seen the at-fault driver looking down, holding a phone, or behaving erratically before the crash. These statements should be collected as soon as possible — memories fade fast.

5. Surveillance and Dashcam Footage

Traffic cameras, security cameras at nearby businesses, doorbell cameras, and dashcams from other drivers all capture moments that can establish distraction. This footage is often overwritten in 7–30 days, so preservation letters from your lawyer are time-critical.

6. The Police Report

Tennessee crash reports include codes for “driver distraction” that the responding officer fills out based on the scene investigation, statements, and observable evidence. A report that lists distraction as a contributing factor is a strong starting point.

How Distraction Affects the Type and Severity of Tennessee Crashes

Distracted driving is overrepresented in particular crash types:

• Rear-end collisions, because a distracted driver doesn’t see slowed or stopped traffic ahead
• Lane-departure crashes, including head-on collisions on two-lane roads
• Pedestrian and bicycle accidents in crosswalks, parking lots, and at intersections
• Run-off-road crashes at highway speeds
• Construction zone accidents, where distraction proves particularly deadly

Our overview of parking lot accidents and how Tennessee determines fault in left-turn accidents covers two of the categories where distraction plays an outsized role.

What You Can Recover

Tennessee uses a modified comparative fault system established in McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992) and codified through Tenn. Code § 20-1-119. You can recover damages as long as your share of fault is less than 50%, with your award reduced proportionally. Distracted driving cases often produce very low (or zero) fault percentages for the injured party, because there isn’t much an oncoming or stopped driver can do about a phone-watching driver behind them.

You may be entitled to:

• Medical expenses — past and future
• Lost wages and lost earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Property damage
• Punitive damages in egregious cases — for example, drivers who were watching video, recording a livestream, or actively gaming when they hit you

Our overview of types of damages in a Tennessee personal injury claim and our breakdown of economic and non-economic damages in Tennessee car accident claims walk through these categories in more depth.

The One-Year Deadline

Tennessee has one of the shortest personal injury filing windows in the country. Under Tenn. Code § 28-3-104, you generally have one year from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit. Cell phone records and digital evidence get harder to recover with every passing month, which makes early action even more important than the deadline alone suggests.

What to Do Immediately After a Distracted Driving Crash

1. Call the police. A formal crash report is the foundation of every claim.
2. If you can, photograph the scene. Include the position of vehicles, debris, skid marks (or the lack of them — distracted drivers often don’t brake), and the other driver’s vehicle interior if you can see a phone.
3. Get medical attention immediately, even for what feels like minor injuries. Symptoms of concussion, soft-tissue damage, and internal injuries often don’t appear right away.
4. Don’t speak to the other driver’s insurance. A polite “I’m not ready to give a statement” is enough.
5. Save your own phone logs. This rules you out as a distracted driver and protects you from comparative fault arguments.
6. Talk to a lawyer fast. Phone record subpoenas, dashcam preservation, and surveillance footage all have time clocks.

You Don’t Pay Unless We Win

If you or a family member was injured by a distracted driver in Tennessee, The Higgins Firm offers a free, confidential case review. We work on a contingency fee basis — you owe nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Our attorneys are licensed in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and Texas and have recovered millions for crash victims across the state.

The driver who looked down for “just a second” gets to walk away with a $100 ticket. You don’t have to walk away with the bills.