If a texting driver injured you in Washington, DC, a Regan Zambri Long texting while driving accident lawyer can handle your claim from start to finish. We have decades of experience with distracted-driving cases across DC, Maryland, and Virginia: we investigate the crash, gather evidence, negotiate with the insurance company, and take the case to trial when an insurer refuses to pay fairly.
Regan Zambri Long brings almost 200 years of combined experience, and our founding partners are AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell and board certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. We have recovered more than $1 billion for injury victims, including multimillion-dollar results of $15 million, $14 million, $10.6 million, and $10 million in serious car accident claims. With over one hundred 5 star Google reviews, our reputation reflects the trust that clients place in our firm.
Have you been injured by a texting driver in Washington, DC? Contact Regan Zambri Long today, and one of our attorneys will give you a call back. We are available 24/7 and charge no fees unless we win your case.
Complete this form and our team will get back to you as soon as possible
When we get behind the wheel of a car, we are quietly putting our trust into other drivers. We trust that motorists will drive carefully, obey traffic laws, and put their focus solely on the road.
This isn’t always the case on Washington DC’s roadways. It is becoming more common for people to drive distractedly, especially using their phones while behind the wheel. Distracted driving accidents led to over 3,000 deaths in 2019, and according to the National Safety Council (NSC), that figure had increased to 3,275 by 2023, with 12% of those fatalities directly linked to cell phone use.
Research published in 2025 reflects the scale of the problem, stating that cellphone-related distraction contributed to 402 deaths, more than 26,000 injuries, and roughly $10 billion in economic losses across the United States in 2022. Reading a text message for five seconds while driving is equivalent to driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.
So much can happen in those five seconds, including horrific car accidents.
There are many types of motor vehicle accidents that can happen due to texting and driving, which contribute to about 325,000 distracted driving injuries per year. The types of accidents include:
No, you cannot be held liable for texting a driver even if you know they are driving. A passenger who is present in the vehicle with the driver can be held liable for distracting a driver. However, a remote text message sender does not have first hand knowledge of the circumstances of the driver and has no ability to control what the driver does. Therefore, if a remote sender sends a text message to a driver who then gets into an accident while reading or responding to it, the remote sender cannot be held responsible.
Yes. Texting and handheld phone use behind the wheel have been illegal in the District since the Distracted Driving Safety Act of 2004 took effect on March 30, 2004. The law is codified at D.C. Code § 50-1731.04, which requires hands-free use while driving.
Yes, there are exceptions under D.C. Code § 50-1731.04. If you have a hands-free device, such as a Bluetooth device, you may use it as long as your eyes and focus remain on the road. Drivers are allowed to use their cell phones in certain emergency situations to dial 911 or 311. If the driver pulls over safely, they may use their cell phone while their vehicle is stopped.
Possibly, and you should not assume otherwise without talking to a lawyer. It’s true that Washington, DC follows contributory negligence, one of only a few jurisdictions where being even partly at fault can affect your ability to recover. But whether you actually share any fault is a factual question, not a foregone conclusion. The fact that your phone was in use does not automatically mean it caused or contributed to the crash. The other driver’s texting may be the sole cause of your injuries.
Insurance companies often raise contributory negligence aggressively, precisely because it can be such a powerful defense. An experienced attorney knows how to investigate what really happened and to counter unfair attempts to shift blame onto you. In some cases, the last clear chance doctrine may also allow recovery even where contributory negligence is alleged.
A driver who looks at a phone for just five seconds at highway speed travels the length of a football field essentially blind. Texting drivers cause rear-end collisions, run red lights and stop signs, drift into other lanes, and fail to yield to pedestrians and cyclists because their attention was on a screen instead of the road.
Regan Zambri Long is a leading DC law firm that has national recognition and respect. Our texting while driving accident lawyers are experts in DC law, the court system, and various insurance policies. The attorneys witness, on a daily basis, the effects of car accidents on victims. We work closely with families who have lost a loved one and families whose lives were forever changed because their loved one is permanently debilitated following an accident.
For almost 30 years, our firm has built a reputation for results, securing in excess of $1 billion in settlements and verdicts for injury victims. That work includes major car accident recoveries, such as:
Our firm’s strength comes from the caliber of its attorneys:
Our team also includes fellows of premier invitation-only trial organizations such:
These credentials reflect the depth of experience our attorneys bring to each case, which becomes clear from the moment we begin investigating a texting while driving crash.
Our texting-while-driving accident attorney will gather evidence from the scene of the accident, including the police report, witness statements, videos, and photos. All the evidence they collect will be used to prove negligence of the driver, to build the strongest possible case for the compensation you’re owed. Washington, DC, insurance companies are notorious for offering low settlements to car accident victims. Often, these settlements will not cover all the sudden medical expenses, personal property damages, lost wages, and pain and suffering. A Regan Zambri Long texting while driving accident attorney will will pursue compensation for your medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Our attorneys have the financial backing to take on large insurance carriers, so you can rest assured your attorney will be with you until the very end. If your crash involved a commercial truck, our texting while driving truck accident lawyers handle those claims specifically.
In the worst situations, victims of car accidents suffer the loss of a loved one. When that happens, your Regan Zambri Long attorney will pursue a wrongful death claim. They understand that they cannot change what happened to you or your family, but they can make sure they work to secure financial compensation so your only focus can be on physical and emotional recovery.
The Regan Zambri Long texting while driving accident attorneys do not work on a retainer. That means you will not have to pay your driving accident attorney unless a settlement or verdict is reached in your favor.
Have you or your loved one sustained injuries in Washington DC, Maryland or Virginia? Regan Zambri Long PLLC has the best lawyers in the country to analyze your case and answer the questions you may have.