“Labor Omnia Vincit” McKay Law
Distracted driving causes preventable crashes daily in McAlester, OK. When a driver looks at their phone or takes their attention off the road, they create real danger. McKay Law represents victims of distracted driver crashes throughout OK. At highway speeds, taking your eyes off the road for 5 seconds means traveling the length of a football field blind—which is why distracted driving causes such severe wrecks. These crashes typically involve 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 McAlester texting while driving accident lawyers know how to prove distraction. We obtain critical evidence—phone records, video evidence, eyewitness accounts, and citations for distraction. Subpoenaed phone data can prove distraction—showing texts, calls, or app activity at the moment of the crash. Injuries from distracted driving crashes catastrophic injuries with lifelong consequences. We fight for every dollar including economic and non-economic losses, plus punitive damages in egregious cases. For gross negligence behind the wheel, enhanced damages may be available. Every client we represent is handled on a contingency fee basis—no fees unless we recover. Critical evidence disappears fast. Call McKay Law now for a free consultation with a McAlester, OK car accident lawyer who will fight for the full recovery you deserve.
Distracted driving kills and injures thousands every year. All the modern distractions competing for drivers’ attention prevent drivers from paying full attention to the road. A momentary glance away from the road can cause catastrophic wrecks. McKay Law advocates for distracted driving accident victims in McAlester and across the state.
Driver distraction has three main forms:
Texting is the worst because it involves all three types of distraction.
Oklahoma has enacted laws to combat distracted driving:
Breaking these laws supports negligence claims.
Fault can be shared under Oklahoma law (Okla. Stat. tit. 23, § 13). You can still recover if you are 50% or less at fault, though your share reduces the final award.
Exemplary damages can be awarded when conduct goes beyond ordinary negligence. Conduct that may warrant punitive damages include:
You typically have 2 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 get to work immediately to preserve phone records and electronic evidence, preserve onboard computer data, bring in qualified reconstruction experts, build the distraction evidence, push for exemplary damages when justified, and build each file for the courtroom.
A: Phone records, app data, EDR data, witnesses, video, and the driver’s own statements.
A: Nothing. No recovery, no fee.
A: Absolutely. It strengthens the case considerably.
A: Through litigation, we can subpoena them.
A: No. Talk to a lawyer first.
A: Maybe. Texting, video watching, and other egregious distractions can justify punitive damages.
A: 2 years from the date of the crash (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95). Move quickly — electronic evidence can be lost.
Distracted driving has overtaken drunk driving as a leading cause of crashes in many categories. Distraction leaves a digital trail that drunk driving doesn’t. A McAlester car accident attorney knows how to find the digital fingerprints distraction leaves behind.
Distracted driving covers any activity that diverts attention from driving.
Distraction has three forms:
Visual distractions remove the driver’s gaze from traffic. Examples include reading text messages.
Manual distractions remove hands from steering. Examples include adjusting controls.
Mind-off-driving distractions. These include focusing on problems unrelated to driving.
Phone use simultaneously involves visual, manual, and cognitive distraction.
Distraction creates a digital paper trail. Different from drunk driving (which requires testing), the digital age has created persistent evidence.
Phone carrier data document phone use during relevant periods. This data is often case-defining.
Text message records are recoverable through legal process. Social media platform records may be retrievable from platform companies.
Vehicle electronic systems track use. Vehicle interaction data may be recoverable.
Traffic cameras may document the driver’s actions at the wheel.
Independent observers provide direct evidence of distraction.
Drivers sometimes admit distraction in police reports, statements, or social media posts provides direct proof.
Several state laws govern this conduct. Texting while driving is prohibited in most states. Statutory breaches directly establish negligence.
When the driver committed a violation of statutory law, the violation itself satisfies the duty-breach analysis. The jury or judge doesn’t need to decide whether the conduct was negligent.
Apart from any per se claim, distraction breaches the duty all drivers owe. Common-law negligence requires drivers to give their full attention to driving.
This is the most common defense. Defeating this defense requires the digital evidence trail.
“The distraction didn’t matter”. Defense argues distraction didn’t actually cause the crash.
Analysis of how attention affects crash dynamics counters these defenses.
“It was hands-free, so it was safe”.
Studies show hands-free phone use creates significant cognitive distraction. Phone use is dangerous regardless of how the phone is held.
Defense pushes shared-fault claims. OK’s comparative fault rules may reduce — but typically won’t eliminate — recovery.
Eyes-off-road distraction accounts for many rear-end wrecks. The driver doesn’t react in time.
Cognitive and visual distraction causes lane departure crashes.
Visual distraction at intersections account for many failure-to-yield crashes.
Distraction creates pedestrian and cyclist risk. A momentary glance away can result in striking someone the driver never saw.
Highway distraction results in particularly devastating wrecks.
Extreme distraction can support punitive damages. Examples include:
Phone records aren’t kept forever. Subpoenas must be served promptly.
Social media platforms have varying retention policies. Prompt legal action secure the digital trail.
Distracted driving citations may establish negligence per se.
Bystander accounts of driver behavior carry credibility weight.
Onboard data may contain evidence of distraction.
Distracted driving accident damages parallel other auto claim categories:
Distracted driver accident attorneys charge no upfront fees. Free initial consultations are standard.
The digital trail isn’t kept indefinitely. Multiple data custodians don’t preserve data forever. Filing deadlines applies regardless. Contacting a McAlester distracted driver accident attorney quickly 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 secure cell phone records, social media activity, app usage logs, and infotainment system data to confirm 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 craft a case the insurance company can’t talk its way out of.
Distracted drivers cause some of the most avoidable 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 become part of the McKay Law family, we won’t allow the at-fault driver’s attempts to minimize what they did. We fight for full compensation for emergency care, surgeries, hospitalization, ongoing rehabilitation, future medical needs, prescription costs, time away from work, lost earning capacity, vehicle replacement, and the pain, frustration, and lasting impact of a crash that never had to happen. Phone us now at (866) 679-9651 or reach out online to schedule your free consultation and put a firm that knows how to expose distracted driving on your side.
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