Boston Texting and Driving Accident Lawyer

Injured by a texting driver in Boston, MA? Contact the top Boston texting and driving accident lawyer to seek justice and compensation.

A driver who glances at a text for five seconds at 55 miles per hour travels the length of a football field with their eyes off the road. That is more than enough distance to miss a stopped car on I-93, a pedestrian stepping off a curb in the North End, or a cyclist riding the Commonwealth Avenue bike lane. Massachusetts has banned handheld phone use since 2020, and still, distracted driving causes serious crashes across the Commonwealth. Victims are left with fractures, brain injuries, missed paychecks, and months of treatment, while insurance companies move quickly to limit what they pay.

At Breakstone, White & Gluck, our founding partners Marc L. Breakstone, David W. White, and Ronald E. Gluck have spent more than 30 years representing people seriously hurt by negligent drivers. Every client works directly with one of the three founding partners, and we prepare every case for trial. Phone records, dashcam footage, and vehicle data can disappear fast, so we move quickly to lock down the digital evidence that proves what the driver was doing in the seconds before impact and hold every responsible party accountable.

Get a free consultation and discover how our texting and driving accident attorneys in Boston can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.

Who We Help After a Texting Crash

A texting driver can hurt anyone on the road, and Breakstone, White & Gluck represents people from every side of these crashes throughout Boston and Massachusetts. We help:

Drivers hit at red lights, in stop and go traffic on the Mass Pike, or at intersections where a distracted driver never saw the signal change
Passengers in private cars, taxis, and rideshare vehicles who were injured through no fault of their own
Pedestrians struck in crosswalks, parking lots, and busy neighborhood streets
Cyclists and motorcyclists who suffered serious injuries because a driver was looking at a screen instead of the road
Families who lost a loved one and need answers, accountability, and financial security for the future

Why Breakstone, White & Gluck

Marc Breakstone, David White, and Ronald Gluck all hold the AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the legal profession's highest designation for ability and ethics. All three are consistently recognized as Top 100 Super Lawyers in Massachusetts and New England, and 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, a commitment to shaping the standards that define serious injury litigation in this state.

We prepare every texting crash case for trial from day one. Our attorneys use advanced digital trial technology, interactive exhibits, and computer reenactments to help juries understand complex injuries and liability issues. Thorough trial preparation produces stronger settlements and stronger verdicts, and tells insurance companies we will not accept less than you deserve.

We do not buy billboards or advertise on television. Our verdicts and peer recognition reflect the results and reputation we’ve earned.

“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

What It Costs to Hire Us

Hiring Breakstone, White & Gluck costs you nothing up front. We handle texting and driving accident cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we win your case.

Here is how it works:

Your consultation is free. You can sit down with us, ask questions, and learn about your options without any obligation.
There are no upfront fees. You never write a check to get started, even when your medical bills are piling up and your paychecks have stopped.
We advance all case costs. Expert witnesses, accident reconstruction, phone record subpoenas, and medical reviews can be expensive. We cover these costs as your case moves forward.
Our fee comes from your recovery. If we secure a settlement or verdict, our fee is a percentage of that amount. We explain the terms clearly in writing before we begin, so you never face a surprise.

This approach means you can get top trial lawyers on your side no matter what your finances look like after a crash. It also means we only succeed when you do, so we have every reason to fight for the full value of your claim.

What to Do After a Boston Texting and Driving Crash

The steps you take in the hours after a crash directly shape your ability to recover full compensation. Your health comes first. Then focus on protecting the evidence that proves what happened.

Call 911 and Seek Medical Care Immediately

Call the police and get medical attention, even if you feel fine right now. Concussions, soft tissue injuries, and internal trauma can take days to surface, and prompt medical records tie your injuries directly to the crash.

Document the Scene Before It Changes

Photograph both vehicles, their final positions, any skid marks, road conditions, and nearby traffic signals. If the at-fault driver's phone is visible on their seat, console, or in their hand, photograph that too.

Decline Recorded Statements

Report the accident to your own insurer, but refuse any recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurer until you speak with an attorney. Adjusters are trained to ask questions that shift responsibility onto you, even when the crash was clearly the other driver's fault.

Call Us Early

Surveillance footage is routinely overwritten, and phone data can be deleted within days. Reaching us quickly lets us send legal preservation demands that lock this evidence down before it is gone.

Call (800) 379-1244 for a free case review.

How We Prove the Driver Was Texting

Proving distracted driving takes more than a witness saying they saw a phone. We build cases around hard digital records that are difficult to dispute.

Carrier Subpoenas: We obtain records directly from carriers like AT&T and Verizon, capturing every call, text, and data session timed against the exact moment of impact.
App Usage Logs: Activity from Snapchat, Waze, and iMessage is time-stamped and can show a driver was actively engaged with their phone in the seconds before your crash.
Event Data Recorders: The vehicle's onboard "black box" logs speed and braking behavior immediately before impact, often revealing the driver took no evasive action at all.
Surveillance Footage: We immediately canvas the crash area for footage from traffic cameras, business security systems, and dashcams.
Spoliation Letters: As soon as we are retained, we send a formal legal demand, called a spoliation letter, ordering the at-fault driver and their insurer to preserve the phone and all related data. Once a party knows the evidence may matter in a claim, destroying it can lead to court sanctions, including a jury instruction about the missing evidence.

One pattern we consistently see in Boston texting crash claims is an insurer that admits the collision but denies any phone use, even when the driver rear-ended stopped traffic on the Southeast Expressway or the Mass Pike in broad daylight. Carrier records showing a text or data session ending seconds before impact often carry more weight than any eyewitness. Business and traffic cameras along Mass Ave and Boylston Street can also show a driver looking down at a red light, but that footage is often recorded over quickly, which is why we request it at the start of a case.

How Massachusetts Law Affects Fault

Massachusetts law prohibits handheld phone use by drivers. A driver may use a phone only in hands-free mode. A violation is evidence of negligence that a jury can weigh because the driver broke a safety law written specifically to prevent this type of crash. Massachusetts does not treat it as automatic proof of fault.

Who Is Responsible for Your Injuries?

The distracted driver bears primary responsibility, but your crash may involve additional liable parties:

Employers: If the driver was on a business call, running a work errand, or driving a company vehicle, their employer may share liability through vicarious liability, a doctrine that holds employers accountable for employees' negligent acts on the job.
Rideshare Platforms: If the at-fault driver was actively working for Uber or Lyft when the crash occurred, commercial insurance policies with significantly higher limits may apply.

Identifying every responsible party determines the full scope of coverage available to compensate you.

Who Pays Your Medical Bills First?

Massachusetts is a no-fault auto insurance state, meaning your policy's Personal Injury Protection (PIP) covers your initial medical expenses and a portion of lost wages regardless of fault, up to $8,000.

After PIP is exhausted, your health insurance takes over for ongoing treatment. Once your injuries meet the legal threshold required to pursue a third-party claim, called the tort threshold, you can file directly against the at-fault driver's insurer for pain, suffering, and all losses beyond what PIP covered. In Massachusetts, that threshold generally means more than $2,000 in reasonable medical expenses or a serious injury such as a fracture, loss of sight or hearing, or permanent and serious disfigurement.

What we see across the texting crash claims we handle in Boston is that clients treated at Boston Medical Center, Mass General, or Beth Israel Deaconess can use up the $8,000 in PIP benefits quickly, sometimes before follow-up imaging or physical therapy even begins. Adjusters then point to any gap in treatment to argue the injuries were minor. We help clients keep their care continuous and document when the $2,000 medical expense threshold is met, so the claim against the texting driver moves forward without delay.

What Compensation You Can Recover

A successful claim compensates you for every financial and personal consequence of the crash. We fight to recover full damages across all categories the law allows:

Medical Expenses: All past and future costs: emergency care, surgery, physical therapy, medication, and any ongoing treatment your injuries require.
Lost Income: Wages already missed during recovery and any reduction in future earning capacity if your injuries are long-term or permanent.
Pain and Suffering: Physical pain, emotional distress, and the loss of activities and relationships that mattered most to you before this crash.
Permanent Impairment and Disfigurement: Compensation for lasting physical limitations, loss of a bodily function, or permanent scarring.
Loss of Consortium: Your spouse may have a separate claim for the loss of your companionship and support.
Punitive Damages: In fatal crashes caused by gross negligence or reckless conduct, such as reckless distracted driving, Massachusetts law allows additional damages to punish the at-fault driver.

“Marc is a skilled professional…When my case required attention Marc kept me focused and informed. When my case required tough negotiating, Marc delivered.” – Bob Powell

How Shared Fault Affects Your Case

Massachusetts uses a modified comparative negligence rule, meaning you can still recover as long as you are found to be 50% or less at fault. Insurance adjusters routinely inflate a victim's share of fault to justify lower settlements. We push back on those arguments using the same digital and physical evidence we built your case around.

A tactic we see repeatedly from adjusters in Boston texting crash cases is shifting blame to the pedestrian or cyclist, claiming they stepped out mid-block on Comm Ave or rode outside the bike lane on Mass Ave. In claims headed to Suffolk Superior Court, we answer that argument with the driver's own phone records and the timeline they create. When the data shows the driver was reading or typing in the seconds before impact, the fault argument usually shifts back to where it belongs.

What Timeline to Expect

Some claims resolve within a few months, while cases involving catastrophic injuries or disputed liability can take significantly longer, particularly if they proceed to litigation. Massachusetts law gives you three years from the crash date to file a lawsuit. Miss that window and you lose your right to any recovery, no matter how strong the facts.

What Families Can Do After a Fatal Texting Crash

When a distracted driver takes someone's life, Massachusetts law allows the estate's personal representative to file a wrongful death claim. Recoverable damages include lost financial support, loss of companionship, and funeral costs, and courts may award punitive damages when the driver acted with gross negligence.

If you lost a family member, call us at (800) 379-1244. We will explain your rights at no cost.

Our Record in Serious Crash Cases

Our results in serious motor vehicle cases include $56,000,000 for a 78-year-old Newburyport man catastrophically injured in a head-on collision with an Amazon delivery van, $10,900,000 for a client who suffered a spinal cord injury in a multiple-vehicle highway collision in a construction zone, $7,100,000 for a pedestrian whose leg was amputated after an MBTA bus struck her in a crosswalk, and $3,750,000 for a motorcyclist who suffered facial fractures, a concussion, and blindness in one eye after a driver cut into his lane. These results came from the same preparation, the same technology, and the same partner-level attention we bring to every client.

We are selective about the cases we accept because each client deserves a founding partner's direct and sustained focus, not a case number in a volume practice.

“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

Boston Texting and Driving Accident FAQs

Does a Texting Citation Automatically Prove the Driver Was at Fault in My Civil Case?

A citation is powerful evidence of negligence but does not automatically decide a civil claim. We must still show the driver's texting directly caused your crash and the specific injuries you suffered.

Can Deleted Text Messages Be Recovered from the At-Fault Driver's Phone?

Deleted messages and app data can often be retrieved through carrier subpoenas and forensic phone analysis, but acting quickly is critical since that data can be permanently overwritten without warning.

What Happens if the At-Fault Driver Has No Insurance?

Your own Uninsured Motorist coverage, which every Massachusetts auto policy must include, can compensate you when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Optional Underinsured Motorist coverage can help when the driver carries too little insurance to cover your losses. We identify every available source of recovery before any negotiation begins.

Can a Pedestrian or Cyclist Bring a Texting Crash Claim in Massachusetts?

Yes. Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists hit by a distracted driver have full rights to file a personal injury claim. Pedestrians and cyclists can also use PIP benefits, from their own household's auto policy or the policy of the vehicle that struck them, for initial medical expenses. Motorcyclists generally cannot collect PIP for injuries suffered while riding, so health insurance or optional medical payments coverage often covers early treatment.

What if the Driver Was Using a Hands-Free Device and Still Caused the Crash?

A driver can still be found negligent while using a hands-free device if the evidence shows their attention was divided from the road. We examine app logs, event data records, and call histories to establish distraction regardless of how the phone was being used.

How Quickly Can You Send a Spoliation Letter to Preserve Evidence?

We send legal preservation demands as soon as we are retained. The sooner that letter goes out, the more evidence we can lock down before it is deleted or overwritten.

Contact Us After a Boston Texting Crash

You should not face insurance companies, defense attorneys, and months of medical appointments alone. Your job is to heal, and ours is to handle everything else, from the investigation and legal strategy to the fight at trial if that is what it takes. Call (800) 379-1244 or contact us online for a free consultation and discover how our texting and driving accident attorneys can help with your case.