In Nebraska, hundreds of traffic deaths per year are attributed to distracted driving activities such as texting while driving, and the true figure could be much higher. Nebraska has responded like other states have – by passing a distracted driving statute that prohibits certain activities while driving that involve the use of mobile electronic devices.
Distracted Driving Restrictions in Nebraska
All drivers are prohibited from texting while driving on Nebraska roads. There is a hand-held cell phone ban for drivers who are under 18 and are driving on restricted licenses (learner’s permits and intermediate licenses). Both restrictions are secondary – the officer cannot cite you unless you are involved in an accident or he witnesses you committing another violation first.
Practically, about the only way you can be cited for a secondary offense is to either admit to the offense or be implicated through public cell phone records. The law contains exceptions for emergency situations and for certain on-duty public officials such as police officers and ambulance drivers. You may freely use a hands-free cell phone (like Bluetooth) while driving.
Penalties
The fines for distracted driving are $200 for a first offense, $300 for a second offense and $500 for third and further offenses. Additionally, three points added to your driver’s license record for each offense. If your driver’s license is from out of state, Nebraska will fine you and notify your home state DMV of your infraction. Your home state will deal with the infraction based on its own statute (most states do not add points to a distracted driver’s license).
In the Event of an Accident
If you are in an injury road accident while illegally texting or using a cell phone, the mere fact that you broke the law will not be enough by itself to prove that the accident was your fault. Instead, the party suing you will have to show that your act constituted negligence (carelessness) under the circumstances of the accident, and that it was a substantial factor in causing the accident. The same reasoning would apply to an insurance claim that does not go to court.
If the court determines that two or more parties were at fault for the accident, it will assign a percentage of fault to each party. Any party whose percentage of fault is 50 percent or more cannot recover any damages. Any party whose percentage of fault is between one percent and 49 percent will see his damages reduced in proportion to his percentage of fault. Even if you were less than 50 percent at fault, however, you could end up with a net loss of both drivers are held partially responsible for the other’s damages and the other driver suffered more damages than you did
Possible Criminal Penalties
If you cause an accident in Nebraska through “ordinary negligence”, you are likely to face civil penalties (in other words, money damages). If you cause an accident through “criminal negligence”, however, you might go to prison (and face a civil lawsuit as well). Although the legal dividing line between ordinary negligence and criminal negligence is fuzzy, you risk imprisonment if you cause a serious injury or death by disregarding a “substantial and unjustifiable risk” of harm that you knew about or should have known about.
– Updated through September 1, 2016