Truck Accidents Caused by Cell Phone Use in Texas

Undefeated Truck Accident Lawyers

Cell phone use is one of the fastest-growing causes of serious truck accidents in Texas — and one of the easiest forms of evidence for trucking companies to lose or destroy. While federal law prohibits commercial truck drivers from using handheld mobile devices behind the wheel, many continue texting, scrolling, calling, or using apps while operating an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer. 

In 2025 alone, Texas reported at least two dozen fatal crashes involving large trucks where cell phone use or another form of distracted driving was identified. In our experience, however, these crashes are significantly underreported because proving phone use often requires immediate legal action to preserve records before they’re deleted or withheld.

At Zehl & Associates, we’ve handled some of the most complex trucking accident cases in history. Our undefeated Texas Truck Accident Attorneys know where to look for the digital evidence that proves what happened, including cell phone records, forensic device downloads, GPS data, electronic logging devices, and truck black box information.

With Billions won accident victims, including the #1 Largest Truck Accident Verdict in Texas and truck accidents #1 Largest Truck Accident Settlement in Texas, we have the resources and experience to stand up against the largest trucking companies in the world and not just win, but set records. Contact us today at (888) 603-3636 for a free consultation. 

Table of Contents

• How Zehl & Associates Helps After a Truck Crash Caused by Cell Phone Use 
• Truck Drivers Are Strictly Prohibited From Using Handheld Phones
• Cell Phone Use Is a Growing Danger on Texas Roads
• Cell Phone Distractions Go Beyond Texting
• Who Is Responsible for a Truck Accident Caused by Cell Phone Use?
• Proving Cell Phone Use in a Texas Truck Accident
• Record-Setting Results in Texas Truck Accident Cases Involving a Cell Phone
• Undefeated Texas Truck Accident Lawyers: 1-888-603-3636 for a Free Consultation

How Zehl & Associates Helps After a Truck Crash Caused by Cell Phone Use 

Even when a truck driver’s cell phone use results in a catastrophic 18-wheeler crash, the trucking company and its lawyers will fight to pay you as little as possible for your injuries and losses. From hiding important evidence to blaming innocent victims at the scene, there’s nothing they won’t do to avoid responsibility.

That changes the moment you choose Zehl & Associates.

• We immediately investigate the crash:  We send accident reconstruction specialists and engineers to the crash scene and secure cell phone records, black box data, and other critical evidence that proves what really happened.
• We recover and use cell phone data to uncover the truth: We partner with the nation’s leading forensic experts to determine whether texting caused the accident—and how it could and should have been prevented.
• We make sure you get the medical treatment you need: We connect our clients with leading doctors and specialists, with no upfront costs, and help cover medical bills and reasonable living expenses while their case is pending.
• We refuse to settle for anything less than the maximum compensation possible: We will always refuse any offer that doesn’t fully compensate you for all of your injuries and losses — including all economic and non-economic damages.
• We prepare ever trial from day one: If the at-fault parties won’t pay what you deserve, we’re ready to take your case to court, where we remain undefeated.
• We hold trucking companies fully accountable: We take action to ensure the companies responsible face real consequences, whether by recovering punitive damages, exposing reckless practices, and forcing corporations to implement safer policies, so accidents like this one never happen again.

Trucking companies know that once our 18-wheeler accident attorneys are involved, they only have two choices: offer a large settlement that fully compensates our clients and their families for all their injuries and damages or risk a record-setting verdict at trial — where our lawyers remain undefeated.

Truck Drivers Are Strictly Prohibited From Using Handheld Phones

Texting while driving is illegal in Texas under Transportation Code § 545.4251. Yet unsafe driving violations involving cell phone use continue to occur among commercial truck drivers, with some of the nation’s largest trucking companies accumulating hundreds of cell phone-related violations in recent years.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) violations involving cell phone use are among the most serious unsafe driving violations because they involve behaviors that can take a driver’s attention away from the road and put everyone nearby at risk. These violations include:

• Using a hand-held mobile telephone while operating a CMV
• Texting while driving
• Requiring drivers to use handheld phones
• Allowing drivers to use handheld devices
• Distracted or inattentive driving

For commercial truck drivers, using a handheld device behind the wheel can result in significant federal penalties, including fines and potential disqualification from operating a commercial vehicle.

Despite these serious consequences, cell phone violations often go undetected until after a devastating crash occurs. In many cases, other unsafe driving violations — such as failing to stop at traffic signals, drifting between lanes, or failing to react in time — are often signs that a driver was distracted by a mobile device.

Cell Phone Use Is a Growing Danger on Texas Roads

Distracted-driving crashes involving large trucks continue to occur at an alarming rate. But in our experience, crashes involving cell phone use are widely underreported because proving a driver isn’t always so simple as seeing them using a device. These crashes often require immediate legal action to preserve electronic evidence before it can be altered, deleted, or withheld.

According to Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) crash data, the Lone Star State has seen more than 7,600 large truck crashes involving driver inattention, texting, talking on a cell phone, or other forms of mobile device use over the last five years. These crashes have continued to rise in nearly every year during that period:

• 2025: 1,572 crashes
• 2024: 1,529 crashes
• 2023: 1,560 crashes
• 2022: 1,523 crashes
• 2021: 1,445 crashes

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), a driver who sends or reads a text takes their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. This is enough time for a semi-truck to travel the length of a football field at highway speed.

When a truck driver chooses to text or scroll through messages or a social media feed while driving, it’s not just a violation of the law; it’s a reckless decision that can destroy lives. Texting while driving takes a driver’s eyes off the road and attention off their surroundings. For a truck driver operating an 80,000-pound vehicle, even a few seconds of distraction can lead to catastrophic consequences.

Cell Phone Distractions Go Beyond Texting

Texting is only one form of distracted driving. In our experience, truck drivers are often distracted by a wide range of activities involving both personal phones and company-issued devices. Any activity that takes a driver’s eyes, hands, or attention away from the road can have deadly consequences.

Common forms of cell phone distraction include:

• Texting or responding to messages
• Making or answering handheld phone calls
• Using FaceTime or other video calling apps
• Programming GPS directions while driving
• Scrolling social media
• Reading or sending emails
• Using messaging apps
• Selecting music, podcasts, or streaming content
• Taking photographs or videos
• Responding to dispatch communications on company-issued tablets or Qualcomm devices

Because these distractions often leave little physical evidence at the scene, proving they contributed to a crash requires an immediate investigation, forensic cell phone analysis, and preservation of electronic data before it disappears.

Who Is Responsible for a Truck Accident Caused by Cell Phone Use?

The driver isn’t always the only one responsible.

Our investigations frequently uncover trucking companies that ignored repeated distracted-driving violations, failed to enforce company cell phone policies, pressured drivers to respond to dispatch while driving, or allowed unsafe drivers to remain behind the wheel despite a documented history of violations.

Those failures can significantly strengthen a lawsuit and, in many cases, support claims for gross negligence and punitive damages.

Parties that may share liability include:

• The truck driver, for engaging in distracted behavior
• The trucking company, for negligent hiring and training
• A freight or logistics company, if its scheduling practices encouraged driver distraction
• A maintenance provider, if mechanical issues contributed to the crash
• Manufacturers, if defective parts played a role

When multiple companies are responsible for a truck crash, it’s critical to have an experienced legal team that knows exactly how to anticipate finger-pointing, expose attempts to shift blame, and hold every responsible party fully accountable.

Proving Cell Phone Use in a Texas Truck Accident

In Texas, you have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit, but the longer you wait, the harder it becomes to recover the evidence and pursue justice. Truck accidents involving cell phone use require a legal team that knows how to act immediately to preserve critical electronic evidence before it can be altered, lost, or destroyed.

Our investigations often uncover that the trucking company had already violated federal and state safety regulations, ignored warning signs that should have kept dangerous drivers off the road, or failed to enforce their own safety policies. We’ve exposed drivers who lied to investigating officers about their actions and trucking companies willing to shift blame onto innocent victims rather than accept responsibility for their own negligence.

We don’t just request cell phone records. We build a second-by-second timeline using every available source of electronic evidence — and use it to prove exactly what happened. Here’s how we prepare every case to go before a jury:

• Accident Reconstruction: Our accident reconstruction specialists conduct an extensive investigation of the crash scene, analyzing vehicle damage, skid marks, road conditions, electronic data, and other physical evidence to determine how fast the truck was traveling, when the driver braked, and whether distraction played a role in the collision.
• Securing Cell Phone Records & Key Evidence: We immediately send preservation notices requiring the trucking company to retain cell phones, company tablets, black box data, GPS records, electronic logging devices (ELDs), driver logs, dispatch communications, and other critical evidence before it can be altered, lost, or destroyed.
• Forensic Cell Phone Analysis: We work with leading forensic specialists to recover deleted messages, analyze app activity, determine whether the driver was actively using a phone or application at the time of the crash, and prove distraction through digital evidence recovered from both personal and company-issued devices.
• Onboard Technology & Data: We compare downloaded cell phone records against the truck’s GPS history, Engine Control Module (ECM) data, Qualcomm communications, ELD records, dispatch messages, dash camera footage, traffic camera video, witness statements, and other electronic evidence. By cross-checking multiple data sources, we reconstruct the driver’s actions in the moments, hours, and even days leading up to the crash.
• Collaboration With Texas DPS & Investigators: We work closely with Texas Department of Public Safety and other law enforcement agencies to verify the evidence collected at the scene, identify inconsistencies in the driver’s statements, and uncover additional facts, such as if the driver was fatigued, inexperienced, or unqualified, that strengthen your case.
• Depositions: We conduct detailed depositions of the truck driver, company representatives, dispatchers, safety directors, and defense experts to expose inconsistencies, uncover trucking company negligence, and hold every responsible party fully accountable.
• Federal Regulations: With extensive experience litigating cases involving the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, including Hours of Service rules and distracted driving regulations, we know how to identify safety violations, expose systemic failures, and use them to prove negligence, or even gross negligence, against both the truck driver and the trucking company.

After obtaining the evidence needed to prove how the crash occurred and the lasting impact it has on our client’s health, quality of life, and future, we work with leading experts and engineers to fully calculate all economic and non-economic damages our clients have suffered. We then fight for the maximum compensation possible, refusing to back down until we’re able to ensure that our clients have the financial resources they need to care and provide for themselves and their families for the rest of their lives.

Record-Setting Results in Texas Truck Accident Cases Involving a Cell Phone

After a crash, the trucking company’s first priority is protecting themselves. You deserve a legal team that protects your rights — and your family’s future. 

We consistently set records for our clients because we work longer and harder than our opponents, we understand how trucking companies and their team of lawyers operate, and we refuse to settle a case unless our clients are fully compensated for all their injuries and damages.

Our record-setting results for victims of truck accidents involving a cell phone include:

• $35 Million Settlement for the family of a client killed in a Fort Worth truck accident caused by a truck driver’s cell phone use.
• $20 Million Settlement for the family of a client killed when a distracted truck driver using a cell phone caused a crash near Houston.
• Record setting (confidential) settlement for the family of client killed by a truck driver distracted by his cell phone in Texas.

As a result of our track record and reputation, a majority of our client’s cases are settled for record-setting amounts before trial.

Undefeated Texas Truck Accident Lawyers: 1-888-603-3636 for a Free Consultation

Having successfully represented thousands of semi-truck and commercial vehicle accident victims across Texas and the United States, our Texas Truck Accident Attorneys know what evidence to look for and how to use it to prove that the trucking company and/or driver were at fault. With Billions won, we have the resources and experience to take on any trucking company and team of lawyers, no matter how large, and ensure that our clients receive the maximum compensation possible.

If you or a loved one were injured in a truck accident caused by cell phone use in TX, call us at 1-888-603-3636 or contact us online today to schedule your free consultation with an undefeated Texas truck accident attorney. 

We work on a contingency fee basis, so you won’t pay a dime unless we win.