It only takes a few seconds of looking at a text for a driver to miss a stopped car, a changing light, or someone pulling into traffic. After the crash, though, you’re the one left with medical bills, time away from work, and calls from an insurance company.
A texting while driving accident lawyer in Woodstock can step in and help you make sense of what comes next. At Jones & Swanson, we bring more than 50 years of combined experience to representing injured people and their families.
When you work with our Woodstock car accident lawyer, you aren’t passed around or treated like another case number. You have a specific team assigned to your case, and we return phone calls. That personal approach matters when you’re trying to get medical treatment, figure out what comes next, and deal with an insurer at the same time.
How We Investigate Distracted Driving Accidents
Proving that another driver was distracted isn’t always as simple as saying you saw a cell phone in their hand. The other driver may deny texting and driving, or their insurance company may argue that something else caused the collision.
We look beyond those first explanations and investigate what the evidence actually shows.
Our Woodstock personal injury lawyer will identify and preserve evidence that can help establish what the distracted driver was doing immediately before the car accident. Depending on the circumstances, that evidence could include:
- Phone records: Cell phone records, text message logs, and call history can help establish relevant phone activity around the time of the crash.
- Witness statements: Eyewitness testimony may show that a driver was looking down, holding a phone, or otherwise distracted.
- Crash evidence: Skid marks, vehicle damage patterns, and accident reconstruction can help explain how the motor vehicle accident occurred.
- Video footage: Traffic camera footage, business surveillance video, or other available recordings may provide another view of the collision.
- Vehicle information: Vehicle data recorders and other available data may help establish speed, braking, or other actions before impact.
A police report and traffic citations can also be important pieces of the investigation, but we don’t automatically stop there. Sometimes the strongest evidence of cell phone usage is found after additional investigation.
Georgia’s Hands-Free Law and Texting While Driving
Georgia drivers don’t have free rein to use their phones behind the wheel. The state’s Hands-Free Georgia Law, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-241, generally prohibits drivers from holding or supporting a wireless device with any part of their body while driving. Reading a text, typing a response, or sending a message while operating a vehicle is also prohibited.
That matters in a personal injury claim because evidence that a driver violated a traffic law can become part of the larger investigation into negligence.
A texting while driving accident lawyer in Woodstock can examine phone-related evidence alongside the police report, witness accounts, vehicle evidence, and circumstances surrounding the crash.
And distraction isn’t limited to text messages. Social media, navigation apps, GPS directions, cell phones, and other in-car controls can create visual distractions, manual distractions, and cognitive distractions. On a busy road such as Highway 92, even a short lapse in attention can have serious consequences.
Injuries and Damages After a Distracted Driving Accident
A texting and driving accident can happen before you have any chance to react. Depending on speed, direction of impact, and other factors, traffic crashes involving distracted drivers can result in broken bones, head trauma, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, pelvic fractures, organ damage, and other serious conditions.
Some injuries aren’t fully understood on the day of the accident. That’s one reason getting appropriate medical treatment and following recommendations from medical professionals can be important for both your health and your personal injury claim.
Damages available in a case will depend on the facts, but a claim may account for:
- Medical expenses: These can include emergency treatment, hospitalization, rehabilitation, follow-up appointments, and future care related to the injury.
- Lost income: A serious injury may prevent you from working temporarily or affect your future earning ability.
- Property damage: A claim may address damage to your vehicle and other personal property.
- Pain and suffering: Non-economic damages can address the physical pain and personal effects caused by an injury.
- Permanent injury: Long-term limitations, scarring, or permanent impairment may affect the value and needs of a claim.
We understand that some clients don’t have health insurance and worry about how they’ll afford care. Jones & Swanson can provide resources and help connect clients with healthcare partners who will work with them.
What if the Insurance Company Blames You?
Insurance companies don’t always accept responsibility just because there is evidence that the other driver was distracted. An adjuster may argue that you were speeding, didn’t respond quickly enough to a traffic signal, or otherwise contributed to the collision. Those arguments can affect how a personal injury case develops.
Our texting while driving accident lawyer in Woodstock will evaluate the evidence instead of simply accepting the insurance company’s version of events. That can mean reviewing accident reports, witness statements, video footage, property damage, and cellphone records to understand each driver’s actions.
Georgia uses a modified comparative negligence system. That makes the allocation of fault important when pursuing damages. When responsibility is disputed, having evidence gathered and organized early can make a significant difference.
Talk With a Woodstock Texting and Driving Accident Attorney
You shouldn’t have to figure out phone records, medical expenses, insurance negotiations, and Georgia personal injury law while you’re trying to recover. Jones & Swanson handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, so you don’t pay attorney fees upfront.
We can explain the process, answer your questions honestly, and help you decide what makes sense for your situation. We’ve been part of the Marietta community since 1995, and we haven’t lost the personal approach that comes with being a hometown firm.
Our clients get straightforward answers, returned phone calls, and a team that actually knows their case. That’s very different from being another file at a high-volume settlement firm.
Contact Jones & Swanson for a free consultation and talk with us about what happened in your distracted driving accident.
