Michigan has not been spared the national distracted driving epidemic. In response to the growing body count, the state has enacted legal restrictions on certain uses of electronic devices, such as smart phones, while driving. These restrictions are not particularly onerous compared to the restrictions imposed by many other states.
Distracted Driving Restrictions
Bus drivers and novice drivers (Level 1 or Level 2 licenses) are prohibited from all cell phone use, even hands-free models. Statewide, there are no other restrictions on the use of cell phones while driving. The city of Detroit, however, bans the use of handheld models by all drivers (with narrow exceptions). Other Michigan cities and counties are entitled to pass their own local ordinances regarding cell phone use (but not for texting, unless the ordinance is substantially similar to the state statute).
All drivers in Michigan are banned from texting (reading, typing or sending) while driving, except to report:
- an emergency,
- a safety hazard,
- or a criminal act
Certain public officials, such as firefighters and police officers, may text or use cell phones in the line of duty. Off-duty, they are subject to the same restrictions as ordinary citizens. You can legally text while stopped in traffic or pulled onto the shoulder of the road.
Penalties
The penalty for violating Michigan’s texting or cell phone use restrictions is $100 for a first offense and $200 for each subsequent offense.
In the Event of a Car Wreck
If you cause an injury accident through texting or illegal cell phone use, the injured party can sue you. If he can prove that you were negligent and that your negligence caused the accident, he can win the case, as long as the accident was not mostly his own fault. To prove that you were negligent, all he has to do is to prove that you violated Michigan’s cell phone or texting law, thereby establishing that you were negligent per se.
Negligence per se can also come into play if you sue the other driver for your injuries. Michigan applies a comparative fault system with a 51 percent bar. This means that if two people contributed to an accident, the court will review the evidence and assign a percentage of fault. Texting and driving, for example, could be used by the defendant to prove that you were partially at fault for the accident.
Any party who is found at least 51 percent at fault will receive no non-economic damages (damages for pain and suffering, for example), while any party found less than 51 percent at fault will see his damages proportionately reduced. Even a party mostly at fault, however, can receive a minority portion of his economic damages (such as medical bills). If the driver was 75 percent at fault, for example, he will receive no damages for pain and suffering (since he was at least 51 percent at fault), but he can collect enough to pay 25 percent of his medical bills (along with other economic damages such as lost wages).
– Updated through September 1, 2016