Fact-Checked: Why Trust Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima Football season is finally here, and with training camps underway, one of the biggest NFL stories of the summer hasn’t been about the roster. It’s been about a car crash.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan (who, for my money, is the best offensive playcaller in the league, but I digress) was seriously hurt in an accident just before camp opened. Then came the follow-up: according to reporting Shanahan was holding and using a cell phone at the moment of the crash. He wasn’t cited, and by most accounts the other driver was at fault for swerving into his lane. But Shanahan still walked away with a broken nose, a broken hand, broken ribs, a serious concussion, and 40 stitches.
That’s a California case, and California has its own rules about phones behind the wheel. But it’s worth asking the question a lot of our clients ask us after a crash: what happens under Ohio law when the other driver was on the phone?
Ohio’s Rule Is Broader Than People Think
Ohio Revised Code 4511.204 doesn’t just target texting. It says:
“No person shall operate a motor vehicle…while using, holding, or physically supporting with any part of the person’s body an electronic wireless communications device.” R.C. 4511.204(A).
Read that closely, and you’ll notice it doesn’t say anything about typing or scrolling. Just holding the phone while driving is enough to violate the statute.
There are a fair amount of exceptions that water down this rule: for example, a driver can hold a phone while stopped at a red light R.C. 4511.204(B)(3); a driver can hold the phone up to an ear for a call, as long as they’re not typing anything into it R.C. 4511.204(B)(3); and a driver can use speakerphone, as long as the phone itself isn’t being held or propped against the body, R.C. 4511.204(B)(6).
Why This Matters More Than the Ticket
A first violation of R.C. 4511.204 only carries a fine of up to $150 and two points on a license. That’s not much of a deterrent on its own. Where the statute really matters is in a civil case after someone gets hurt.
Normally, if you’re injured in a crash and you sue the other driver, you have to prove they owed you a duty, breached it, and caused your injury. Proving “breach” — that the other driver acted unreasonably — is often where these cases get fought the hardest.
Ohio has a shortcut. The Ohio Supreme Court has held that when a rule “has been established by legislative enactment,” a jury can decide whether it was violated “by finding a single issue of fact,” and that a violation “is negligence per se.” Chambers v. St. Mary’s School, 82 Ohio St.3d 563, 565 (1998). What that means in plain terms: if a driver violated R.C. 4511.204, you don’t have to separately convince a jury that holding a phone while driving was careless. The legislature already decided that for you. The violation itself establishes duty and breach.
That doesn’t mean the case is won. You still have to show the violation actually caused the crash, and that you suffered real damages because of it. If someone was holding a phone but the wreck happened for a completely unrelated reason, the phone violation alone won’t carry the case. But when the phone use lines up with how the crash happened, negligence per se can make a real difference in how quickly liability gets established.
What To Do If You’re Hit By a Distracted Driver
Football season means more people on the road — more commutes, more tailgates, more Sunday traffic. Distracted driving crashes tend to climb right along with it.
If you’re hit by someone who was on the phone, the phone records and any citation (or lack of one) matter. So does getting an attorney involved early, before that kind of evidence becomes harder to pin down.
If you or someone you love has been injured by a distracted driver in Ohio or Kentucky, the attorneys at Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima are available to review your case and explain your options. Call 513-496-0134 for a free consultation.