Hit by a driver who was texting in Las Vegas: how is phone use proven?

Last updated October 25, 2026.

Usually by putting several kinds of evidence together: what you and witnesses saw, video, the police report, what the driver said, and, if a lawsuit is filed, phone records obtained through the court process. Nevada bars drivers from texting or holding a phone for a call while driving on a highway (NRS 484B.165(1)). Proof that the other driver did it is strong evidence of fault in a Las Vegas car accident claim, but it does not decide the claim by itself.

Drivers who were looking at a phone rarely say so, and the records that show it belong to someone else. This page explains what Nevada's handheld law covers, how phone use is proven step by step, what the court rules allow once a case is filed, and what phone use does and does not change about fault and damages. Truck drivers are under stricter federal rules, covered in our page on truck driver phone and texting rules.

What does Nevada's handheld phone law say?

NRS 484B.165(1) says a person may not, while operating a motor vehicle on a highway in Nevada:

Manually type or enter text into a cellular phone or other handheld wireless device, or send or read data on one to access or search the Internet or to engage in nonvoice communication, including texting, electronic messaging and instant messaging (NRS 484B.165(1)(a)).
Use a handheld device for a voice call unless it is used with an accessory that lets the driver talk without using his or her hands, other than to activate, deactivate or start a feature or function (NRS 484B.165(1)(b)).

The law does not prohibit a voice-operated GPS or navigation system that is affixed to the vehicle (NRS 484B.165(3)). A driver of a vehicle driven autonomously, where that is authorized by law, is deemed not to be operating it (NRS 484B.165(7)).

Question	What the statute says	Rule
Who is exempt	Firefighters, EMTs, paramedics and similar workers, and law enforcement officers and designated persons, acting within the scope of their jobs; anyone reporting or seeking help for a medical emergency, safety hazard or crime; anyone responding to a situation needing immediate action to protect health or safety when stopping would be inadvisable, impractical or dangerous; licensed amateur radio operators in emergencies or drills; public utility workers using a utility-provided device on an emergency dispatch	NRS 484B.165(2)(a) to (f)
What a violation is	A civil infraction	NRS 484B.165(4)
Civil penalty	$50 for a first violation, $100 for a second and $250 for a third or later violation within the preceding 7 years	NRS 484B.165(4)(a) to (c)
Extra penalties	A violation may be subject to additional penalties in work zones, pedestrian safety zones and school zones	NRS 484B.165(5); 484B.130, 484B.135, 484B.370
Driving record	The DMV may not treat a first violation the way it must treat a moving traffic violation	NRS 484B.165(6)
What counts as a handheld device	A handheld device for transferring information without wires, including a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, a pager and a text messaging device, with a narrow exception for certain licensed two-way radios	NRS 484B.165(8)(a)

Note what the penalty section is about: the traffic citation. Your injury claim is separate. A citation helps show what happened, but in a lawsuit the jury sets each party's share of fault (NRS 41.141(2)(b)).

How is phone use proven after a Las Vegas crash, step by step?

Write down what you saw, the same day. A phone in the driver's hand, a head bent down, a car that drifted or never braked. Get the names and numbers of anyone who saw it too. Notes made at the time carry more weight than memories months later.
Get the police report. The report form must call for enough detail to disclose the cause of the crash, the conditions, and the people and vehicles involved (NRS 484E.120(1)), and officers' crash reports are not privileged or confidential (NRS 484E.110(3)). Officers may record what a driver admitted at the scene. See which agency handles your crash and how to get the report.
Look for video. Your dashcam, other drivers' cameras, and business cameras can show a driver looking down or a car that never slowed. Ask for business video in writing within days; our page on saving and using dashcam video after a crash explains how to keep it usable.
Note what the driver said. "I only looked down for a second" is evidence. Write it down word for word, with the time, and tell the officer.
Send a preservation letter early. Ask the other driver, and that driver's insurer, in writing to keep the phone and its records. If the driver was working, send one to the employer too. In a lawsuit, if electronically stored information that should have been preserved is lost because a party did not take reasonable steps, the court may order measures to cure the harm, and if it finds intent to deprive, it may presume the information was unfavorable (NRCP 37(e)).
After a lawsuit is filed, use the court rules. Each party must disclose, without waiting for a request, documents and electronically stored information it may use, and any record, report or witness statement concerning the incident, unless privileged or protected (NRCP 16.1(a)(1)(A)(ii)). You can serve a request on the other driver to produce documents and electronically stored information, and the response is due within 30 days after service (NRCP 34(a), (b)(2)(A)).
Records held by someone else come by subpoena. A subpoena can command a non-party, such as a phone company, to produce documents and electronically stored information in its possession (NRCP 45(a)(1)(A)(iii)). Notice and a copy must be served on every party at least 7 days before the subpoena is served, so they can object (NRCP 45(a)(4)(A)).
Line up the times. Match any call, text or data activity against the time of the crash from the report, 911 records and witnesses. Seconds matter, so exact timestamps matter.
Keep the deadline in view. An injury lawsuit generally must be filed within 2 years of the crash (NRS 11.190(4)(e)), and the court tools above only become available once a case is filed. Our page on what happens after a lawsuit is filed in Clark County explains the stages.

Can you get the other driver's phone records yourself?

Not directly. Phone records are usually obtained through the legal process in a lawsuit, by a request to the other party or a subpoena to the company that holds them, and the court can limit what is produced. On timely motion, the subpoena rule requires the court to quash or modify a subpoena that requires disclosure of privileged or other protected matter with no exception or waiver, or that subjects a person to an undue burden (NRCP 45(c)(3)(A)(iii), (iv)).

Before a lawsuit, there is no rule that makes the other driver or the insurer hand over phone records to you. That is why the evidence you can gather yourself, witnesses, video, the report and the driver's own words, matters so much in the first weeks.

Does texting make punitive damages possible?

Punitive damages require more than carelessness. Under NRS 42.005(1), they are available only where it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant has been guilty of oppression, fraud or malice, express or implied. Chapter 42 defines "malice, express or implied" as conduct intended to injure a person or "despicable conduct which is engaged in with a conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others," and "conscious disregard" as knowledge of the probable harmful consequences and a willful and deliberate failure to act to avoid them (NRS 42.001(1), (3)).

No Nevada statute says that texting while driving meets that standard by itself. Whether a particular driver's conduct does is a question for the court on the evidence. Punitive damages for impaired drivers follow a separate rule; see punitive damages against a drunk driver in Nevada.

What changes the answer

Your own phone. The same law applies to you. If the insurer can show you were texting, it will argue for a share of fault, which reduces your recovery under NRS 41.141. See how Nevada's 50 percent fault rule works.
An exception applied. A driver calling 911 to report a hazard or crime is exempt from the handheld ban (NRS 484B.165(2)(c)). The exemption covers the citation; how carefully the driver was driving is still a fault question.
A hands-free call. A voice call with a hands-free accessory is not banned (NRS 484B.165(1)(b)). Distraction can still be argued, but the statute is not the tool.
A commercial or rideshare driver. Truck and bus drivers face federal rules, explained in truck driver phone and texting rules. A rideshare driver adds the company's insurance; see who pays after an Uber or Lyft crash in Las Vegas.
The kind of crash. Distracted drivers often rear-end stopped cars. Our page on whether the driver behind you is always at fault covers the following rule that usually applies too.
A work zone or school zone. The citation penalties can increase there (NRS 484B.165(5); 484B.130, 484B.370). The civil claim follows the same fault rule.

For example: the driver who never braked on Spring Mountain Road

Imagine a driver named Owen. He is stopped in traffic on Spring Mountain Road when an SUV hits him from behind without slowing. Everything here is hypothetical.

A pedestrian on the sidewalk tells Owen she saw the SUV driver looking down at a phone. Owen gets her name and number and writes down her words. The SUV driver tells the officer, "I glanced at a text for a second." Owen asks that the statement be included in the report. That evening he writes to a shop at the corner asking it to keep its camera footage.

The SUV driver's insurer accepts fault after seeing the report. Owen's injuries take months to treat, and the offer is far below his losses, so he files suit before the 2-year deadline. The SUV driver's initial disclosures include her statement to the officer (NRCP 16.1(a)(1)(A)(ii)). Owen's side serves a request for her phone records for the minutes around the crash and, after notice to the parties, a subpoena to her phone company limited to that window (NRCP 34, 45). The records show a message sent seconds before the impact.

That evidence settles the fault question. It does not, by itself, make punitive damages available, which would need clear and convincing proof under NRS 42.005(1). What the claim is worth still depends on Owen's injuries, records and the insurance available; see what Nevada's 25/50/20 minimum insurance pays.

Common mistakes after a crash with a texting driver

Not getting witness details at the scene. A witness who saw the phone is often the strongest early evidence, and hard to find later.
Waiting to send a preservation letter. Phones get replaced and video gets overwritten. Ask in writing early.
Assuming the citation proves the case. A $50 civil infraction under NRS 484B.165(4) is evidence, not a verdict on fault or damages.
Discussing the phone on a recorded call. If the other driver's insurer calls, read whether you have to give a recorded statement before you describe what you saw.
Posting about the other driver online. Accusations on social media can complicate your own claim. Keep the evidence for the claim.
Letting the deadline run while you wait for records. The phone records usually come only after a lawsuit is filed, and the 2-year limit does not wait (NRS 11.190(4)(e)).

What to do this week

Write down what you saw and what the other driver said, with the time.
Call or text each witness to confirm their contact details.
Request the police report, or note the event number until it is ready.
Save your own dashcam file and ask nearby businesses in writing for video.
Send a short written request to the other driver's insurer asking that the driver's phone and records be preserved.
See a doctor and keep every follow-up.
Mark the 2-year injury deadline on your calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Is it illegal to text at a red light in Nevada?

NRS 484B.165(1) applies "while operating a motor vehicle on a highway." The statute does not mention stops at lights, and whether a stopped driver is "operating" the vehicle is a legal question, so the safe course is to leave the phone alone. Truck drivers face a federal rule that expressly covers stops in traffic; see the truck driver phone rules.

Can the police take the other driver's phone?

That is a question for the investigating agency and the criminal law, not this page. For your claim, the police report and any statement the driver made are what you can request. Phone records for a civil claim usually come through the court process.

Will the other driver's insurer admit the driver was texting?

Sometimes, when the report or a witness makes it clear. Often it will not address it until there is evidence. Nevada's claim rules bar an insurer from misrepresenting pertinent facts to claimants (NRS 686A.310(1)(a)).

Does a hands-free call count as distracted driving?

A call with a hands-free accessory is not banned by NRS 484B.165(1)(b). Whether the driver was paying attention is still a fault question that witnesses and video can answer.

How long does the other side have to answer a request for phone records?

A party must respond in writing within 30 days after being served with a request for production, unless the parties stipulate or the court orders otherwise (NRCP 34(b)(2)(A)). A non-party served with a subpoena has its own rules for objections and compliance (NRCP 45(c)).

Can I still recover if I was partly distracted too?

Yes, if your share of fault is not greater than the other side's. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage (NRS 41.141).

If a texting driver hit you in Las Vegas, attorney Maysoun Fletcher can help you preserve the evidence and explain how phone use is proven. Call 702-333-6339 for a free consultation; the phones are answered 24/7.