Food, Phones, GPS and Passengers: León Law Firm on Liability in Texas Crashes

A guide from The León Law Firm, P.C. explains how everyday distractions such as eating, phones, GPS and passengers cause Texas crashes, how a distracted driver is shown to be at fault and which insurance policies may pay for the injuries.

Sugar Land, United States, October 28, 2026 /NewsNetwork/ -- Most distracted driving crashes start with an ordinary moment: a driver checking a map, unwrapping lunch or turning around to settle a child in the back seat. A guide from The León Law Firm, P.C. explains how those everyday distractions lead to crashes, how a distracted driver is shown to be at fault and who pays for the injuries. The guide is available at https://theleonlawfirm.com/aggressive-distracted-drivers/

The numbers show how often it happens. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, distracted driving caused 86,384 crashes on Texas roads in 2025. More than 2,437 people were seriously injured, and 299 people died. TxDOT lists texting, talking or glancing at a cell phone, eating or drinking, setting a navigation system, changing the radio or climate controls and reaching into the back seat among the distractions.

The guide explains that a driver needs three kinds of focus at once: eyes on the road, hands on the wheel and a mind on the job of driving. Some distractions take away one of the three. A phone can take away all three.

Phones are not the only problem. Texas has a specific law against texting while driving, but eating, adjusting the radio or turning toward a passenger are not covered by that statute. In those cases, liability turns on a simpler question: whether the driver was using ordinary care. Even GPS use, which is an affirmative defense to the texting offense, does not make a driver careful. A driver who crashes while setting a route can still be found negligent.

Distraction is often invisible after the fact, so proof usually comes from several sources at once. Witnesses may have seen a driver looking down, eating or turned around. Dashcams, doorbell cameras and business security cameras can show the moments before impact, though many systems record over old footage within days. The officer’s CR-3 crash report, the vehicle’s event data recorder and photos of the scene can fill in the rest.

Insurance is often where these claims get difficult. The at-fault driver’s liability policy is usually the first source of payment, but Texas requires only $30,000 in bodily injury coverage per person under Transportation Code § 601.072. Serious injuries can exceed that quickly. An employer may also be responsible if the driver was working at the time of the crash. When the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough, the injured person’s own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may help. The firm’s guide to uninsured motorist coverage in Texas explains how that works: https://theleonlawfirm.com/uninsured-motorists/

In the guide, founding attorney Carlos A. León stresses moving quickly after a crash. Video and witness memories can disappear long before the two-year deadline that applies to most Texas injury lawsuits, so camera footage and witness contact information should be gathered early.

More information about the firm’s car accident practice is available at https://theleonlawfirm.com/car-accident-lawyer/

About The León Law Firm, P.C.: The León Law Firm, P.C. is a bilingual personal injury firm based in Sugar Land, Texas, founded by attorney Carlos A. León. The firm represents injured clients throughout Texas on a contingency-fee basis, in both English and Spanish. Learn more at https://theleonlawfirm.com/about-law-firm/

Contact Info:
Name: Carlos Leon
Email: Send Email
Organization: The León Law Firm, P.C.
Address: 1 Sugar Creek Center Boulevard, Sugar Land, TX 77478, United States
Website: https://theleonlawfirm.com

Source: NewsNetwork

Release ID: 89207697

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