“Labor Omnia Vincit” McKay Law
Inattentive driving causes preventable crashes daily in Durant, OK. When a driver looks at their phone or takes their attention off the road, they put everyone else at risk. McKay Law advocates for victims of distracted driver crashes throughout OK. A driver glancing at a text can travel hundreds of feet without seeing the road—which is why the consequences are so devastating. Distracted driving covers texting, social media, navigation distractions, and visual or cognitive distractions. Texas law bans texting while driving—and many cities impose additional cell phone restrictions. Our Durant car accident attorneys know how to prove distraction. We act quickly—cell phone records, text and call logs, app usage data, dash cam footage, witness statements, and police reports. Subpoenaed phone data can prove distraction—establishing the driver was on the phone at impact. Injuries from distracted driving crashes catastrophic injuries with lifelong consequences. We recover all available damages including medical bills, future care, lost wages, pain and suffering, and wrongful death damages. When inattention rises to recklessness, enhanced damages may be available. Every distracted driving case is handled on a contingency basis—zero upfront cost. Don’t wait—phone records can be erased and electronic evidence lost. Reach out to McKay Law right away for a complimentary evaluation with a Durant, OK distracted driving accident lawyer who will fight for the full recovery you deserve.
Distraction now ranks among the top causes of vehicle wrecks. Texting, calls, navigation, eating, and other distractions prevent drivers from paying full attention to the road. Just seconds of inattention results in serious crashes. McKay Law advocates for distracted driving accident victims in Durant and across the state.
Driver distraction has three main forms:
Texting while driving combines all three — making it especially dangerous.
Oklahoma has distracted driving statutes:
Breaking these laws supports negligence claims.
Fault can be shared under Oklahoma law (Okla. Stat. tit. 23, § 13). Recovery is available if your share stays at 50% or below, though your share reduces the final award.
Oklahoma allows punitive damages when conduct goes beyond ordinary negligence. Situations supporting punitive awards include:
You typically have two years from the date of the crash to file (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95). Time matters in these cases because phone and app records may be lost without prompt preservation.
We move quickly to preserve phone records and electronic evidence, preserve onboard computer data, retain accident reconstruction experts when warranted, build the distraction evidence, seek punitive awards in egregious cases, and treat each matter as trial-ready.
A: Cell records, electronic evidence, eyewitness accounts, and forensic analysis.
A: Nothing upfront. No recovery, no fee.
A: Absolutely. A citation is strong evidence of distraction.
A: Yes, through subpoena.
A: Never. Talk to a lawyer first.
A: In some cases, yes. Reckless distraction can support punitive awards.
A: Two years from the date of the crash (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95). Don’t wait — phone data has retention limits.
Distracted driving has overtaken drunk driving as a leading cause of crashes in many categories. It’s also one of the most proveable forms of negligence. A local attorney experienced with distraction-related crashes turns distraction into the leverage that drives serious recovery.
Distracted driving covers any activity that diverts attention from driving.
There are three recognized types of distraction:
Visual distractions remove the driver’s gaze from traffic. Examples include reading roadside materials.
Hands-off-wheel distractions. These include grooming activities.
Cognitive distractions involve mental focus elsewhere. These include focusing on problems unrelated to driving.
Smartphone interaction is uniquely dangerous because it triggers all three forms at once.
Distraction creates a digital paper trail. In contrast to behaviors that fade without trace, the evidence often exists in retrievable digital form.
Telecommunications records can show exactly when calls were made or received. This evidence is typically definitive.
SMS and chat logs exist on multiple servers. Application usage logs can be obtained through legal process.
Infotainment systems log user activity. All vehicle system interactions may be recoverable.
Traffic cameras may document the driver’s actions at the wheel.
Independent observers can describe what they saw the driver doing.
Admissions in various forms becomes powerful evidence.
OK has laws addressing distracted driving. Texting while driving is prohibited in most states. Violations of these laws directly establish negligence.
If the driver broke a statute, the violation itself satisfies the duty-breach analysis. Per se negligence streamlines the case.
Even without a specific statutory violation, distraction breaches the duty all drivers owe. The standard of ordinary care requires reasonable attentiveness.
This is the most common defense. Building the evidence case is the answer to this defense.
Causation defense. Insurers may concede distraction but dispute its role.
Expert testimony on driver attention counters these defenses.
Defense sometimes argues hands-free phone use isn’t really distraction.
This argument is contradicted by research. Phone use is dangerous regardless of how the phone is held.
“You were distracted as well”. OK’s comparative fault rules may reduce — but typically won’t eliminate — recovery.
Visual distraction is the leading cause of rear-end crashes. The driver fails to perceive the stopped or slowing traffic.
Cognitive and visual distraction can cause drivers to drift across lanes.
Distracted drivers may miss traffic signals or signs drive intersection collisions.
Vulnerable road users suffer disproportionately from distraction. Distraction-pedestrian crashes are often catastrophic.
High-speed inattention leads to severe crashes.
Severe inattention can trigger punitive recovery. Examples include:
Phone records aren’t kept forever. Spoliation letters need to go out fast.
Digital evidence has unpredictable retention. Quick preservation demands protect evidence.
Traffic charges carry significant weight.
Witnesses who saw the driver on their phone carry credibility weight.
Vehicle electronics may contain evidence of distraction.
Recoverable losses include:
Lawyers handling these cases work on contingency. First meetings carry no charge.
The digital trail isn’t kept indefinitely. Multiple data custodians may delete records after defined periods. Filing deadlines sets a hard cutoff. Getting an attorney involved promptly triggers the preservation steps that lock down digital evidence.
A driver who looks down at a phone for just five seconds while traveling 55 miles per hour travels the length of a football field with their eyes off the road. That’s the math behind distracted driving — and it’s why texting, scrolling social media, fiddling with infotainment screens, eating behind the wheel, applying makeup, and reaching for items in the back seat cause thousands of preventable crashes every single day. At McKay Law, we understand that proving distraction is often the difference between a fair settlement and a lowball offer. We request cell phone records, social media activity, app usage logs, and infotainment system data to pin down exactly what the at-fault driver was doing in the seconds before impact. We connect that evidence with dash cam and surveillance footage, witness statements, and police reports to develop a case the insurance company can’t talk its way out of.
Distracted drivers cause some of the most preventable crashes on the road — rear-end collisions in stopped traffic, lane-departure wrecks at highway speed, and intersection crashes from drivers who blew through a red light because their eyes were on a screen. The injuries that follow are anything but minor: spinal damage, traumatic brain injuries, multiple fractures, and lifelong complications. When you join the McKay Law family, we refuse the at-fault driver’s attempts to trivialize what they did. We demand full compensation for emergency care, surgeries, hospitalization, ongoing rehabilitation, future medical needs, prescription costs, lost income, lost earning capacity, vehicle replacement, and the physical and emotional toll of a crash that never had to happen. Reach us today at (866) 679-9651 or reach out online to book your free consultation and bring a firm that knows how to expose distracted driving fighting for you.
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