Boston Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer
Injured in a distracted driving accident in Boston, MA? Contact the top Boston distracted driving lawyer to seek justice and compensation.
Distracted driving crashes in Boston often cause fractures, spinal injuries, and traumatic brain injuries that require months of medical care and rehabilitation. A driver who glanced at a phone instead of the road can cause the same catastrophic harm as one who was drunk or reckless, yet many victims are left juggling missed paychecks, medical appointments, and confusing paperwork while they try to heal. The insurance company standing behind the at-fault driver is often looking for any reason to pay less than the claim is worth.
At Breakstone, White & Gluck, our experienced motor vehicle accident attorneys build distracted driving cases the way trial lawyers build cases, not the way high-volume firms process files. Every client is personally represented by one of our founding partners, Marc Breakstone, David White, or Ronald Gluck, backed by decades of experience subpoenaing phone records, securing event data recorder evidence, and preparing every case as if it will be tried before a jury. We have recovered more than $325 million for injury victims across Massachusetts, and insurance carriers know it.
Get a free case evaluation and discover how our distracted driving accident attorneys in Boston can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.
Do You Have a Distracted Driving Case in Boston?
When a driver's inattention causes your crash, you have the right to hold them accountable and seek full compensation. Distracted driving is any activity that pulls a person's eyes, hands, or mental focus off the road, texting, making calls, GPS programming, eating, or scrolling through a phone.
Massachusetts took a clear legal position with the Hands-Free Law: holding or using an electronic device while driving is illegal. When a driver breaks that law, causes a crash, and leaves you injured, you are the victim of their negligence. You should not be left bearing those costs alone.
What to Do After a Boston Distracted Driving Crash
The steps you take in the hours after a crash directly affect the strength of your case. Evidence does not wait. Phone records are not preserved indefinitely, surveillance footage cycles quickly, and witnesses become harder to reach with each passing day.
- Call 911: A responding officer creates an official report that may document observations about the other driver, including visible phone use or a failure to brake before impact.
- Get medical attention the same day: Even if you feel fine, see a doctor immediately. Gaps in early care give insurance companies an opening to argue your injuries were not caused by the crash.
- Photograph the scene: Capture all vehicles, skid marks, road debris, traffic signals, and anything visible in the other driver's car, including a phone on the seat or in their hand.
- Collect witness contact information: An independent witness who saw the driver looking down or holding a device before impact is one of the most valuable pieces of evidence you can gather.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the other insurer: Adjusters call quickly, often within hours of the crash. Their questions are designed to produce answers that limit your claim. Say nothing before speaking with an attorney.
How We Prove a Driver Was Distracted
Distracted drivers will not volunteer that information. We go directly after objective evidence, the kind that cannot be explained away once we secure it.
Cell phone records are often the most decisive tool in these cases. We subpoena carrier logs showing every call, text, and data transfer timestamped to the second. When those records align with the moment of your crash, the case against the at-fault driver becomes very difficult to dispute.
We also pursue:
- Event Data Recorder (EDR) data: The vehicle's onboard black box captures speed, braking, steering, and acceleration in the seconds before impact. A driver who never touched the brakes was not watching the road.
- Surveillance and traffic camera footage: We contact nearby businesses and MassDOT immediately to secure video before it is overwritten.
- Social media activity: A post, photo, or message sent just before the collision can serve as a digital admission of distraction.
- Police citations and witness statements: We review the full crash report for Hands-Free Law violations and speak directly with every available witness.
We prepare every case as if it is going to trial, using computer reenactments and interactive digital evidence so a jury can see clearly what happened and why.
One pattern we consistently see in distracted driving claims on the Southeast Expressway and I-93 is that the at-fault driver initially denies any phone use, only for the carrier records we subpoena to tell a different story. Adjusters in these cases often try to settle before that phone data comes back, betting that a quick offer will close the file before the timestamps surface. When a case is filed in Suffolk Superior Court, we have found that jurors respond strongly to seeing the exact second a driver's phone screen lit up next to the moment of impact. That evidence, more than any police narrative, is usually what turns the case.
Who Pays Your Medical Bills in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts is a no-fault insurance state. Your auto insurer will cover initial medical expenses and lost wages through Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage, up to $8,000, regardless of who caused the crash.
For serious injuries, those benefits are exhausted quickly. Once PIP runs out, your health insurance steps in as the primary payer, and the at-fault driver's liability policy becomes the source of your full financial recovery.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
A fair recovery means compensation for every loss the crash caused, not just what the insurance company includes in its first offer.
Economic Damages
These are documented, calculable financial losses:
- Past and future medical expenses, including surgery, rehabilitation, assistive devices, and home care
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Vehicle repair or replacement
- Out-of-pocket expenses like transportation to appointments and home modifications
Non-Economic Damages
These compensate for losses that have no receipt:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and post-traumatic stress disorder
- Loss of enjoyment of daily activities and relationships
- Loss of consortium, the impact your injuries have had on your marriage
Wrongful Death Damages
If a distracted driver took the life of someone you love, a wrongful death claim allows the family to pursue funeral costs, lost financial support, and the loss of companionship and guidance the deceased provided.
What we see across the distracted driving claims we handle for clients treated at Boston Medical Center or Tufts Medical Center is that insurers focus their pushback on future costs rather than the initial emergency bill. They will often accept the ambulance ride and the ER visit without much argument, then dispute months of physical therapy or a specialist referral as unrelated to the crash.
In our experience, this tactic shows up most often when the injury involves a soft tissue or spinal complaint that does not appear clearly on the first set of imaging. Documenting the connection early, through consistent follow-up care, is usually what closes that gap before the insurer can exploit it.
Massachusetts Laws That Shape Your Case
Comparative Negligence
Massachusetts follows a modified comparative negligence rule. You can recover damages if you are found 50% or less at fault. Your award will be reduced in proportion to your share of responsibility. Insurance companies routinely try to inflate your fault specifically to shrink what they pay.
"I knew that Ron had my best interests at heart and that I could trust him to help me make the right decision." – Katelyn Ludwig
The Tort Threshold
To pursue pain and suffering damages against the at-fault driver, your case must cross a legal standard called the tort threshold. To qualify, your medical bills must exceed $2,000, or your injury must involve a bone fracture, permanent disfigurement, or loss of a bodily function. Most clients with significant injuries meet this standard.
Filing Deadlines
In Massachusetts, you have three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Claims involving government vehicles, including MBTA buses, city fleet cars, or state vehicles, are subject to strict notice requirements and a shorter timeline. Missing these deadlines forfeits your right to any recovery.
A tactic we see repeatedly from adjusters handling distracted driving cases across Suffolk and Middlesex Counties is an early attempt to assign a driver we represent 20 to 30 percent of the fault based on speed or lane position, even when phone records show the other driver never looked up. Because Massachusetts reduces every award by the injured person's share of fault, that inflated number directly affects the settlement offer on the table. We have found that filing suit in Middlesex Superior Court or Suffolk Superior Court, rather than accepting the adjuster's fault split is often what forces a more honest number. Clients who push back on that first fault assessment routinely recover more than those who accept it.
How Insurance Companies Handle These Claims
The at-fault driver's insurer will move quickly, not to help you, but to close your claim for as little as possible. Common tactics include fast, low settlement offers made before the full scope of your injuries is known, recorded statement traps, and calculated efforts to assign you partial blame.
Every offer they extend is a starting point, not a ceiling. We have spent over 30 years fighting these companies, and we know every tactic they use.
We don't buy billboards or advertise on TV. Insurance carriers know our verdicts, and they negotiate accordingly.
Why Breakstone, White & Gluck
We have secured recoveries for injury victims across Massachusetts, one case at a time, with every client personally represented by a founding partner. Marc L. Breakstone, David W. White, and Ronald E. Gluck each handle the cases they accept directly. Your file is never handed off to a junior associate.
All three partners hold the AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer designation for legal ability and professional standards, and have been consistently recognized as Top 100 Super Lawyers in Massachusetts and New England. David White served as President of the Massachusetts Bar Association. Marc Breakstone and Ronald Gluck serve as Governors of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys.
| What Sets Us Apart | Breakstone, White & Gluck |
| Case Handling | A founding partner manages your case directly |
| Advertising | No billboards, no TV, our record speaks for us |
| Trial Preparation | Every case built from day one to win at verdict |
| Peer Recognition | AV Preeminent, Top 100 Super Lawyers |
| Total Recovered | Over $325 million for injury victims |
"So grateful to Marc for all this help, and I would recommend him to anyone in need of a brilliant Personal Injury attorney." – Rebecca S.
Results for Massachusetts Injury Victims
- $10.2 Million, infant brain damage caused by ambulance negligence
- $7.5 Million, infant brain injury resulting from anesthesia malpractice
- $7.1 Million, leg amputation above the knee after a pedestrian-bus collision
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case is different.
"There is no question about this: If any family member or friend needs a great lawyer, I will refer them to David White." – Walid Dehni
Contact a Founding Partner Today
Your job is to get better. Our job is everything else, the investigation, the insurance battles, the filings, and the courtroom if it comes to that.
We work on a contingency fee basis: no upfront cost and no fee unless we win. Call (617) 723-7676 to speak directly with a founding partner, or request a free consultation online. We can meet at our Boston office, your home, or the hospital.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Recover Damages If I Was Partially at Fault for the Crash?
Yes. Under Massachusetts' modified comparative negligence rule, you can recover as long as you were 50% or less responsible. Your total compensation is reduced proportionally by your share of fault.
What If the Distracted Driver Was Driving for Work at the Time?
If the driver was acting within the scope of their employment at the time of the crash, their employer may also be held liable, and commercial auto policies typically carry significantly higher coverage limits than personal ones.
How Long Does a Distracted Driving Case in Massachusetts Take to Resolve?
Claims with clear liability and moderate injuries can settle within several months, while cases involving catastrophic injuries or disputed fault often take a year or longer. We pursue the strongest possible outcome, not the fastest settlement.
What Happens If a Government Vehicle Caused My Crash?
Claims involving government vehicles in Massachusetts are governed by the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, which requires formal written notice within two years and generally caps damages at $100,000. These are strict procedural rules that cannot be missed.
Do I Have to Give the Other Driver's Insurance Company a Recorded Statement?
No. You have no legal obligation to provide a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurer, and doing so almost always damages your claim. Contact us before speaking with any insurance company.
How Is Pain and Suffering Compensation Determined in a Massachusetts Case?
There is no fixed formula. Pain and suffering damages depend on the severity and permanence of your injuries, their effect on your ability to work and enjoy your life, and how effectively your legal team presents the full picture to the insurer or a jury.