Put the Phone Down: What Distracted Driving Is Doing to San Antonio

Be honest with yourself for a second. When was the last time you checked a text at a red light? Took a call on 410? Punched an address into your maps app while merging onto I-35?

We all do it. We all think we're the exception.

We're not.

I've seen what happens when someone looks down for "just a second" at 65 miles an hour. And the numbers here in Texas are ugly.

What the Numbers Say

According to TxDOT, 380 people were killed in distracted-driving crashes across Texas in 2024. That same year, there were more than 91,000 crashes statewide where a driver wasn't paying attention.

And San Antonio is no bystander. In Bexar County alone, 58 people were killed in distracted-driving crashes in 2024. Fifty-eight. In one county, in one year.

Those aren't just numbers to me. Every one of them was somebody's drive home.

It's Been Illegal Since 2017

A lot of people don't realize Texas banned texting behind the wheel back in 2017. Reading, writing, or sending a message while your car is moving is against the law -- statewide.

The ticket itself is small -- a first offense runs up to $99. But here's the part that matters. If your texting causes a wreck that kills or seriously hurts someone, it stops being a traffic ticket. It becomes a criminal charge, with thousands in fines and the real possibility of jail. (I don't make the rules -- but I've seen where they lead.)

My Recommendation

It's the simplest advice I give, and the hardest for people to follow: put the phone where you can't reach it.

Mount it for directions. Let the call go to voicemail. If it truly can't wait, pull over -- the law literally says it's fine when you're stopped.

That text will still be there in ten minutes. The person in the next lane might not be.

If a distracted driver hurt you here in San Antonio, that's exactly the kind of case I take seriously. Give me a call.