When you get behind the wheel in Las Vegas, NV, you have an obligation to use care and caution. The moment you pick up your phone, you put yourself and everyone else on the road in harm’s way. Unfortunately, not everyone takes the dangers of distracted driving seriously. Accidents, injuries, and deaths related to distracted driving are an all-too-common occurrence. When you get hurt in a Las Vegas car accident because another driver is distracted, you have to take action and hold them accountable.
Benson & Bingham can provide the high-quality, personalized, aggressive legal representation you need when your life has been turned upside down.
Our Las Vegas distracted driving accident attorneys are award-winning Nevada litigators who don’t back down when things get tough. Backed by decades of combined experience, we take on powerful insurance companies and fight to secure life-changing monetary awards for our deserving clients. The result is over $600 million in personal injury settlements and jury awards.
We can help you make the most of your claim after a distracted driving accident in Las Vegas, too. Call our law office to discuss your case for free today.
What is Distracted Driving?
Distracted driving has never been more dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 315,000 people were injured in traffic accidents in 2024 because other drivers were distracted. Further, roughly 3,000 distracted driving fatalities are reported nationwide every year.
That’s 863 injuries and 8 deaths every day – just from distracted driving practices alone.
Distracted driving involves any behavior that causes a driver to take their hands off of the steering wheel (physical distraction), look away from the road (visual distraction), or focus on something other than the traffic around them (cognitive distraction).
Common examples of distracted driving include:
- Texting and driving
- Talking on the phone
- Changing the radio station
- Searching the GPS for destinations or stopping points while the vehicle is in motion
- Smoking
- Eating and drinking
- Handing objects to backseat passengers
- Searching for objects on the floor, in other seats, or in the glove box
- Daydreaming
- Rubbernecking
Some distractions, like texting, fall into all three categories, making them considerably more dangerous than others. Research suggests that distracted driving is most prevalent in new teen drivers, while adults who drive for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft are also more likely to be distracted than other drivers on the road.
Your Rights After a Distracted Driving Car Accident in Las Vegas
If another driver is distracted and that distraction causes an accident in which you’re injured, you have the right to pursue compensation for your injuries, financial losses, and harder-to-value life changes. Since Nevada is an at-fault state for auto accidents, you can file a claim with the distracted driver’s insurance carrier to recover benefits from their liability policy.
Distracted driving injury claims are based on negligence. You’ll have the burden of proving:
- The driver owed you a duty of care (e.g., had a responsibility to drive while focused on the road and surrounding traffic conditions)
- The driver breached this duty of care because their hands weren’t on the wheel, they were looking somewhere other than the road, or they were thinking about something other than the traffic while they were driving
- The driver’s failure to pay attention and/or focus on driving was a direct and proximate cause of the car accident in which you were injured
- You’ve suffered damages, such as medical expenses to treat crash-related injuries, damage to your personal vehicle, lost wages, or emotional distress
You have to show that the driver was distracted and that their distraction caused your accident.
When you prove your case, you recover benefits up to the distracted driver’s auto insurance policy limits. For a crash in Las Vegas, this means you can recover at least $25,000 per person in bodily injury benefits and $25,000 for property damage. If the distracted driver had higher policy limits, those would be your limits for recovery. If your damages exceed what the distracted driver’s policy covers, you can pursue additional compensation from the driver themselves or another at-fault party.
What Evidence Can Help Me Win My Distracted Driving Case in Vegas?
How do you prove that another driver was distracted? Several pieces of evidence can be used to create a compelling case.
- Cell phone records with timestamped texts, calls, or data usage
- Records from GPS and phone apps
- Video surveillance footage of the driver on their phone or engaged in some other distracting behavior
- Photographs from red light cameras
- Statements from eyewitnesses who saw that the at-fault driver wasn’t paying attention
- Accident reconstruction reports
- Tire tracks and skid marks (or a lack thereof, which might indicate a driver didn’t brake before a crash)
Evidence can be overwritten, lost, or destroyed shortly after an accident with a distracted driver, so it’s important to contact an experienced distracted driving accident attorney in Las Vegas as soon as you can. At Benson & Bingham, we know how critical the first few days can be after a crash, so we’ll act quickly to locate and preserve valuable evidence that can make your case stronger.
Call Benson & Bingham for Help After a Distracted Driving Car Accident in Las Vegas, NV
There’s no shortage of something to see when you’re driving through Las Vegas. While the sights are great, it can increase the chances that a driver gets distracted and forgets to pay attention to the traffic around them. Risks for distraction increase when Las Vegas drivers are intoxicated or fatigued, which isn’t uncommon. When someone else’s decision to pay attention to something other than the driver causes you to get hurt, Benson & Bingham can help you hold them accountable.
Our Las Vegas distracted driving accident lawyers are the top-rated legal advocates you’ll want in your corner. We strive to do much more than level the playing field between injury victims and insurance companies. Our goal is to ease your burdens and use every resource at our disposal to help you maximize your recovery.
We handle cases on contingency, so there’s no cost to hire our personal injury law firm until we recover compensation for you. We also offer a free consultation, so there’s no reason not to call to discuss your distracted driving accident case with our team in Las Vegas, NV, today.