🏆 $60M+ Recovered • Super Lawyers 2024-25 • 25+ Years Experience • No Fee Unless You Win
Texting and driving has become one of the leading causes of serious accidents on St. Louis roads, with distracted driving contributing to thousands of crashes annually in Missouri. When someone chooses to read a text, send a message, or scroll social media instead of watching the road, the consequences can be devastating—and completely preventable.
At The Dixon Injury Firm, we’ve spent over 25 years helping St. Louis texting and driving accident victims recover compensation when digital distractions cause life-changing injuries. Our experienced texting and driving accident lawyers understand that these cases require specialized investigation techniques to prove phone use and often involve some of the most egregious forms of negligence we see on our roads.
We’re your neighbors in the St. Louis community, and we’ve recovered more than $60 million for clients who trusted us to fight for justice when someone else’s decision to text and drive shattered their lives in an instant.
Texting while driving is essentially driving blind. At 55 mph, taking your eyes off the road for five seconds to read or send a text is equivalent to driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed. The delayed reaction times and complete loss of situational awareness make these accidents particularly devastating and often completely avoidable.
Common Forms of Phone-Related Distraction:
Why Texting and Driving Is So Dangerous:
State Texting Ban: Missouri prohibits all drivers from reading, writing, or sending text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Violations can result in traffic citations and establish negligence in accident cases.
Enhanced Penalties for Drivers Under 21: Young drivers face stricter restrictions on all forms of cell phone use while driving, recognizing their higher risk for distracted driving accidents.
Hands-Free Requirements: While Missouri allows phone calls for drivers over 21, using handheld devices significantly increases accident risk and can support negligence claims when crashes occur.
Evidence of Violation: Traffic citations for texting while driving provide strong evidence of negligence, but our texting and driving accident lawyers can prove phone use even without citations through cell phone records and other investigation techniques.
Rear-End Collisions: Distracted drivers frequently rear-end stopped or slowing traffic because they’re not watching the road ahead, often causing severe whiplash, spinal injuries, and traumatic brain injuries.
Intersection Crashes: Drivers looking at phones may run red lights, fail to yield right-of-way, or make improper turns, causing devastating side-impact collisions with serious injuries.
Head-On Collisions: Texting drivers may drift across center lines or into oncoming traffic, causing the most catastrophic accidents with the highest fatality rates.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents: Distracted drivers often fail to see pedestrians in crosswalks or cyclists in bike lanes, causing severe injuries to vulnerable road users.
Single-Vehicle Crashes: Texting drivers may run off the road, strike fixed objects, or roll their vehicles, often resulting in serious injuries even without other vehicles involved.
Cell Phone Records Subpoena: Our texting and driving accident lawyers can subpoena detailed phone records showing the exact times of calls, texts, and data usage to prove the driver was using their phone at the time of the crash.
Witness Testimony: Eyewitnesses who saw the other driver looking down at their phone or holding a device before the accident provide crucial testimony about distracted driving behavior.
Vehicle Data Analysis: Modern vehicles record speed, braking, and steering inputs that can show patterns consistent with distracted driving, such as failure to brake before impact.
Social Media Evidence: Posts, photos, or check-ins made around the time of the accident can demonstrate the driver was using their phone while driving.
Surveillance Footage: Traffic cameras, business security systems, or dashboard cameras may capture the driver looking down at their phone or holding a device before the crash.
Traumatic Brain Injuries: The sudden, unexpected impact when distracted drivers crash often causes severe concussions, brain bleeding, and permanent cognitive damage.
Spinal Cord Injuries: High-impact collisions can cause partial or complete paralysis, dramatically altering victims’ lives and requiring extensive ongoing care.
Whiplash and Neck Injuries: Rear-end crashes caused by texting drivers frequently result in severe neck injuries, herniated discs, and chronic pain conditions.
Broken Bones and Fractures: The force of impact in distracted driving accidents often causes multiple fractures requiring surgery, pins, plates, and extensive rehabilitation.
Internal Injuries: Severe crashes may cause internal bleeding, organ damage, and other life-threatening injuries requiring emergency surgery.
Psychological Trauma: Victims often develop PTSD, anxiety, and depression, especially when they realize the accident was completely preventable if the driver had simply put their phone down.
Immediate Evidence Preservation: Our texting and driving accident lawyers act quickly to send preservation notices to phone companies and prevent the destruction of crucial call and text records that prove distracted driving.
Comprehensive Phone Use Investigation: We work with digital forensics experts to analyze phone records, app usage data, and social media activity to build a complete picture of the driver’s phone use before and during the crash.
Medical Documentation: We ensure you receive proper medical evaluation and treatment while working with healthcare providers to document how the distracted driving accident caused your specific injuries.
Expert Witness Coordination: We work with accident reconstruction specialists, human factors experts, and medical professionals who can explain to juries how texting while driving caused the crash and your injuries.
Our texting and driving accident lawyers can subpoena detailed phone records showing call logs, text message timestamps, and data usage that prove phone activity at the time of the crash, even if the driver denies using their phone.
While hands-free calling is legal in Missouri for drivers over 21, cognitive distraction from phone conversations can still contribute to accidents. We investigate whether the conversation distracted the driver from safe driving.
Phone companies maintain records of text message activity even if messages are deleted from the device. Our lawyers work with digital forensics experts to recover this crucial evidence.
Multiple forms of negligence strengthen your case significantly. Texting while speeding or driving under the influence demonstrates extreme recklessness that may support punitive damage claims.
These cases often result in substantial settlements because texting while driving represents clear negligence. Compensation depends on injury severity, medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering.
If the driver was texting for business while driving, their employer may also bear liability for the accident. We investigate employment policies and whether work-related phone use contributed to the crash.
Missouri’s statute of limitations gives you five years to file a lawsuit, but evidence preservation and medical treatment should begin immediately to protect your rights and strengthen your case.
Citations help establish negligence, but we can prove texting and driving through phone records and other evidence even when no traffic tickets were issued at the scene.
Alarming Statistics:
High-Risk Areas for Distracted Driving:
Technology’s Role: Modern smartphones make distraction more tempting with constant notifications, social media updates, and instant messaging that drivers feel compelled to check while driving.
Denial of Phone Use: Insurance companies often claim their insured wasn’t using a phone despite evidence to the contrary. Our texting and driving accident lawyers use comprehensive phone records to prove distracted driving conclusively.
Minimizing Distraction Impact: Insurers may argue that phone use didn’t cause the accident or that other factors were responsible. We work with experts to demonstrate the direct connection between texting and the crash.
Comparative Fault Arguments: Insurance companies may claim you contributed to the accident to reduce their liability. Our lawyers gather evidence showing the texting driver bears primary responsibility for the collision.
Quick Settlement Pressure: Adjusters often push for fast settlements before the full extent of phone use evidence is discovered. We ensure thorough investigation before considering any settlement offers.
Immediate Medical Expenses:
Long-Term Care Needs:
Economic Impact:
Personal and Family Impact:
Highway Corridors:
Busy Intersections:
School and Shopping Areas:
Our texting and driving accident lawyers represent injury victims throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area, including:
St. Louis County: Clayton, University City, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Florissant, Hazelwood, Maryland Heights, Creve Coeur, Ballwin, Chesterfield, and surrounding communities
St. Charles County: St. Charles, O’Fallon, Wentzville, St. Peters, and Lake Saint Louis
Jefferson County: Arnold, Festus, Hillsboro, and Imperial
St. Louis City: Downtown, Central West End, Tower Grove, Soulard, and all city neighborhoods
Illinois Metro East: Belleville, O’Fallon, Collinsville, Edwardsville, and Alton
Our team has over 25 years of experience handling complex distracted driving cases throughout the St. Louis area. We understand the sophisticated investigation techniques required to prove phone use and have the technology resources to uncover evidence that other firms might miss.
We work exclusively on a contingency fee basis—no fee unless we win—ensuring that quality legal representation is accessible regardless of your financial situation. Our track record of recovering over $60 million for clients demonstrates our ability to achieve maximum compensation even in challenging cases.
Texting and driving accident cases require immediate action to preserve crucial phone records and other time-sensitive evidence. The sooner our texting and driving accident lawyers can begin investigating your case, the stronger we can build your claim for maximum compensation.
Don’t let insurance companies minimize the devastating impact of a completely preventable accident caused by digital distraction. Contact The Dixon Injury Firm today for a free consultation about your case.
Your neighbors at The Dixon Injury Firm are ready to fight for justice when texting drivers cause preventable tragedies. Because when five seconds of distraction changes everything, we’re here to hold them accountable.
The Dixon Injury Firm – St. Louis Texting and Driving Accident Lawyers Serving accident victims throughout Missouri and Southern Illinois.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and results may vary. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Many personal injury law factories get as many clients in the door as possible, hoping one will be the jackpot. Not us. At The Dixon Injury Firm, we’re highly selective about our cases because we devote considerable time and attention to each client.
