A distracted driving accident in Texas happens when a driver’s attention leaves the road, whether to a phone, food, a GPS screen, or a passenger. Aggressive drivers cause a related kind of crash through tailgating, weaving, racing, and road rage. In both cases, Texas law expects drivers to watch the road and control their vehicles, and drivers who do not can be held responsible for the harm they cause.
This page covers the most common distractions, how aggressive driving and road rage are treated under Texas law, how a distracted driver is shown to be at fault, and who pays for the injuries.
Distracted Driving in Texas by the Numbers
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 as distractions.
Behind those numbers are ordinary moments: a driver checking a map, unwrapping lunch, or turning around to settle a child. The results can include permanent injuries, lifelong disabilities, and wrongful death.
Three Kinds of Focus Every Driver Needs
To fully control a vehicle, a driver needs three things at once:
- Visual focus: eyes on the road.
- Manual focus: hands on the wheel.
- Cognitive focus: a mind on the job of driving.
Some distractions take away one of the three. Texting takes away all three at once. Texas has a specific statewide law against texting while driving, Transportation Code § 545.4251, and phone records are their own kind of evidence, so we cover phones in a separate guide to texting and driving accidents in Texas. The rest of this page focuses on the other distractions and on aggressive driving.
Common Distractions Behind the Wheel
Eating and drinking
Eating or drinking is on TxDOT’s list of distractions. A driver juggling food and a drink may have one hand on the wheel and attention split between the meal and the road. Texas’s texting statute covers electronic messages, not food, so these cases turn on a simpler question: was the driver using ordinary care?
GPS and navigation
Under § 545.4251(c), using a phone to navigate with a GPS or navigation system is an affirmative defense to the texting offense. Being allowed is not the same as being careful, though. Using a navigation system is on TxDOT’s list of distractions, and a driver who crashes while doing it can still be found negligent.
Radio and climate controls
Changing the radio or adjusting the climate controls takes a driver’s eyes and hands off the road, even for a moment.
Passengers and the back seat
Reaching into the back seat is on TxDOT’s list. Turning around to hand something to a child or settle an argument takes a driver’s eyes off the road and at least one hand off the wheel.
Aggressive Driving and Road Rage
Aggressive driving is different from distraction. The driver is paying attention, just not to safety. These are the behaviors we see most often, and each one connects to a specific rule of the road.
- Drifting between lanes and unsafe lane changes. Under Transportation Code § 545.060(a), a driver on a laned roadway “shall drive as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane” and “may not move from the lane unless that movement can be made safely.”
- Cutting across lanes to reach an exit. A last-second move across several lanes to make an exit is a lane change that has to be made safely under the same rule.
- Tailgating. Under § 545.062(a), a driver following another vehicle must keep “an assured clear distance” so the driver can safely stop without colliding with the vehicle ahead.
- Drag racing and street racing. Section 545.420 makes it an offense to take part in a race, a vehicle speed competition or contest, or a drag race on a highway. It is a Class B misdemeanor, and a Class A misdemeanor if the driver has a prior conviction or was intoxicated or had an open container at the time.
- Reckless driving. Under § 545.401(a), a person commits an offense by driving “in wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” It is punishable by a fine of up to $200, up to 30 days in county jail, or both.
Road rage goes one step further. When a driver deliberately rams another car, runs it off the road, or attacks someone after a traffic dispute, the conduct can lead to criminal charges as well as a civil claim. The criminal case and the injury claim are separate.
Because these crashes involve conscious choices, they may raise the question of exemplary (punitive) damages. Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.003(a), exemplary damages may be awarded only if the injured person proves by clear and convincing evidence that the harm resulted from fraud, malice, or gross negligence, and under § 41.003(d) the jury must be unanimous. Section 41.001(11) defines gross negligence as conduct that “involves an extreme degree of risk” where the actor had “actual, subjective awareness of the risk involved, but nevertheless proceeds with conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others.” Whether a driver’s conduct meets that definition depends on the facts.
How a Distracted Driver Is Shown to Be at Fault
Distraction is often invisible after the fact. Proof usually comes from several directions at once:
- Witnesses. Other drivers and passengers may have seen the driver looking down, eating, turned around, or weaving.
- Video. Dashcams, doorbell cameras, and business security cameras can show the moments before impact. Many systems record over old footage, so it should be requested quickly.
- The crash report. The officer’s CR-3 report records the officer’s observations, and it often reflects what each driver said at the scene.
- Vehicle data. A vehicle’s event data recorder captures information such as speed and braking before impact.
- Photos of the scene. Pictures of the vehicles, the road, and the damage help show what happened.
- Phone records, when phone use is suspected. Our texting guide explains how those are obtained.
Fault rules also depend on the type of collision. A rear-end crash, a sideswipe from an unsafe lane change, and a T-bone at an intersection are each analyzed differently. Our guide to the types of car accidents in Texas and who is at fault walks through each one.
Who Pays After a Distracted or Aggressive Driving Crash
The at-fault driver’s liability insurance is usually the first source of payment, and it can run out quickly. Under Transportation Code § 601.072, Texas requires only $30,000 in bodily injury coverage per person, $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage.
Other sources may include:
- An employer, if the driver was working at the time of the crash, under the Texas rule known as respondeat superior.
- Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, if the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough. Our guide to uninsured motorist coverage in Texas explains how that works.
- A bar or restaurant, when the driver was also drunk. A business that served an obviously intoxicated driver may share responsibility under Texas dram shop law.
When You Are Partly at Fault
Insurers often argue that the injured driver could have avoided the crash. Texas divides fault under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility and barred if that percentage is more than 50. A driver found 20 percent at fault, for example, has the recovery reduced by 20 percent.
Deadlines and First Steps
Most Texas injury lawsuits must be filed within two years under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003(a). In fatal crashes, the two years run from the date of death under § 16.003(b); our wrongful death attorneys can explain those claims. Video and witness memories can disappear much sooner.
After a crash with a distracted or aggressive driver:
- Get medical care and keep every record.
- Tell the officer what you saw the other driver doing.
- Collect witness names and phone numbers.
- Note any cameras nearby so the footage can be requested.
- In a road rage situation, do not engage. Call 911.
Our step-by-step guide on what to do after a car accident in Texas covers the scene and the first few days.
