A Bradenton distracted driving accident lawyer represents people hurt by drivers who were texting, scrolling, watching video, eating, or otherwise not paying attention. Distraction is behind about one in seven Florida crashes. Proving the driver was distracted, through phone records, video, and vehicle data, can be the key to a full recovery. Have our 30 years of experience in personal injury go to work for you. No fees or costs unless we get results.
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Heintz Law represents people injured by distracted drivers throughout Bradenton, Palmetto, Manatee County, and the Suncoast, including on I-75, US 41, Manatee Avenue, and Cortez Road. Founding Partner Steven E. Heintz and our Bradenton distracted driving attorneys handle these claims as part of the firm's car accident lawyer practice, within our broader personal injury lawyer practice.
If a distracted driver hit you, call 911, get medical care, and tell the officer anything you saw, such as the driver looking down or holding a phone. Photograph the scene and both cars, collect witness names, and note nearby cameras. See a doctor within 14 days to protect your personal injury protection benefits.
Evidence of distraction disappears quickly, so the first steps matter:
Our article on what to do if hit by a distracted driver covers these steps in more detail.
Distracted driving is anything that takes a driver's eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, or mind off driving. Phones are the most common distraction, but eating, adjusting a navigation or infotainment screen, grooming, reaching for items, tending to children, and talking with passengers can all cause crashes.
Distractions generally fall into three types, and texting involves all three:
Common distractions include texting, scrolling social media, watching video, using a handheld phone in a school zone or work zone, programming GPS while moving, eating and drinking, applying makeup, smoking or vaping, and turning to deal with passengers. Our article on whether watching videos behind the wheel has become the new texting covers one growing risk.
Florida recorded more than 52,900 crashes caused by distracted driving in 2025, resulting in more than 2,100 serious bodily injuries and more than 300 deaths, the most since 2021, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The state says a crash occurs every 44 seconds, and one in seven involves a distracted driver.
State officials also note that distracted driving is likely underreported. Officers may cite a distracted driver for careless driving, failure to maintain a single lane, or another violation instead of a distraction-specific offense, so the true number is often higher than the data shows.
Drivers in their 20s accounted for more than a quarter of distracted driving crashes, according to state data. Our article on teens and distracted driving covers the risks for young drivers.
Yes. Under Florida's Wireless Communications While Driving Law, texting while driving has been a primary offense since 2019, meaning officers can stop a driver for texting alone. Florida also prohibits using a handheld phone at all while driving through a school zone or an active work zone where workers are present.
The law allows hands-free use, such as voice commands and Bluetooth calls, and allows phone use while the vehicle is stationary. It also allows reporting an emergency. Older guidance saying texting is only a secondary offense is out of date.
A citation for texting can help a civil claim, but it is not required. A driver can be found negligent for distraction even if no ticket was written. Texting-specific claims are covered in more detail on our texting and driving accident lawyer page.
Distraction is proven with phone records showing calls, texts, and data use at the moment of the crash, video from traffic and business cameras, vehicle event data showing speed and braking, witness statements, the driver's own admissions, and the physical evidence, such as a crash with no braking before impact.
Evidence used in distracted driving cases includes:
Timing matters. Businesses often record over video within days, and preservation letters must go out quickly. Phone carriers keep records for limited periods. Florida law also generally keeps the crash report and drivers' statements to the officer out of evidence at trial, so distraction usually has to be proven with this other evidence.
Your own personal injury protection coverage, called PIP, generally pays first, regardless of who caused the crash. PIP covers 80 percent of reasonable medical bills and 60 percent of lost income, up to its limits. Florida requires at least $10,000 in PIP, and you must get initial care within 14 days.
The full $10,000 is available for medical care only if a qualified provider determines you had an emergency medical condition. Otherwise, medical benefits are limited to $2,500.
After PIP is used up, health insurance, medical payments coverage, the distracted driver's bodily injury coverage, and your own uninsured motorist coverage become the next sources of payment. Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage, so uninsured motorist coverage is often central to these claims.
Yes, if your injuries meet Florida's serious injury threshold. Under the no-fault system, you can recover medical bills and lost wages beyond PIP from the at-fault driver. Pain and suffering requires a permanent injury, a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, significant permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.
The permanent injury category is the one most often disputed. It must be supported by a treating physician's opinion within a reasonable degree of medical probability. Disc herniations, fractures with lasting limitations, and traumatic brain injuries are often evaluated under this standard.
Different rules may apply when the injured person was on a motorcycle, bicycle, or on foot. Our motorcycle accident, bicycle accident, and pedestrian accident pages explain those differences.
An injured person may seek economic damages, such as medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and property damage, and, when the threshold applies and is met, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life. A spouse may have a separate claim, and punitive damages may be available in limited cases.
When a distracted driver causes a death, the family's claim is brought by the estate's personal representative. Our wrongful death page explains how those claims work.
The distracted driver is usually responsible, along with the vehicle's owner under Florida law. Employers can be responsible when an employee was driving for work, including delivery drivers checking apps and dispatch messages. Rideshare insurers and trucking companies may also be responsible in the right circumstances.
Parties our Bradenton distracted driving attorneys commonly investigate include:
Florida uses modified comparative fault. An injured person who is 50 percent or less at fault can recover damages reduced by their share of fault. An injured person found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing. Distracted drivers often deny phone use, so evidence gathered early matters.
Common defense arguments include that the injured driver stopped suddenly, changed lanes without signaling, or was speeding. Phone records, vehicle data, and video showing the at-fault driver looking down or failing to brake are often the strongest answers to those arguments.
Distracted drivers commonly cause rear-end crashes in stop-and-go traffic, intersection crashes when they run red lights or miss stop signs, lane-departure and sideswipe crashes, and crashes with pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists they never saw. Work zone and school zone crashes are a particular concern around Bradenton.
For most negligence claims arising from crashes on or after March 24, 2023, Florida's statute of limitations is two years from the date of the crash. Wrongful death claims generally must be filed within two years of the death. Claims against government agencies require written notice first.
Distraction evidence disappears much sooner than the deadline. Business video, phone carrier records, and vehicle data can be lost or overwritten if preservation requests are not sent quickly.
The value of a distracted driving claim depends on the severity and permanence of the injuries, medical bills, lost income, the strength of the evidence on fault, the available insurance, and how a jury is likely to view the driver's conduct. No formula or online calculator can answer this honestly.
Factors that tend to affect value include objective imaging and surgical findings, the consistency of the medical record, gaps in treatment, the impact on work and daily life, proof of phone use or other distraction, witness and video evidence, every available insurance policy, the carrier's handling of the claim, the venue, and trial readiness.
Our Bradenton distracted driving attorneys handle each case in stages, from first contact through investigation, pre-suit negotiation, discovery, mediation, trial, and appeal. Every file is prepared from the start as if a jury will hear it, because that preparation shapes how insurance carriers value the claim.
Steven E. Heintz is the Founding Partner of Heintz Law, a Bradenton firm that represents only injured people and their families. His approach is careful preparation, aggressive advocacy where the facts call for it, and trial readiness from the first conference. Settlement on the right number is welcome. Settlement that shortchanges a client is not.
Distracted driving accident cases are handled on a contingency fee, so there is no fee unless there is a recovery. For crashes in Bradenton more broadly, see our Bradenton car accident lawyer page, and for impaired drivers, see our drunk driving accidents page.
If you or a family member was hurt by a distracted driver in Bradenton, Palmetto, or anywhere in Manatee County or the surrounding counties, Heintz Law can review the crash, preserve the evidence of distraction, and explain your options under Florida law.
Have our 30 years of experience in personal injury go to work for you. No fees or costs unless we get results.
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