Cherry Hill Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

Key Takeaways

Distracted driving is a leading cause of serious crashes on New Jersey roads, including in Cherry Hill.
New Jersey bans handheld cell phone use for all drivers and all cell phone use for permit and provisional license holders.
Distracted drivers frequently cause rear-end and intersection collisions due to delayed reaction time.
Insurance companies often try to shift blame onto the victim after a distracted driving crash.
A Cherry Hill distracted driving accident lawyer can gather phone records and other evidence to support a claim.

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car accidents on New Jersey roads, including major routes through Cherry Hill such as Route 70 and Route 38. These accidents are caused by motorists who fail to follow New Jersey law by using hands-free devices, or engage in other types of behaviors that take their attention away from the road. You can file a civil claim against the other driver seeking compensation when you have been injured by their negligence.

The Dangers of Distracted Driving

Distracted driving takes many forms beyond texting. Common distracting behaviors behind the wheel include:

Eating or drinking while driving
Adjusting a GPS or navigation app
Talking with or turning to address passengers
Reaching for objects in the car, such as a bag or dropped item
Adjusting the radio or other vehicle controls
Applying makeup or grooming while driving

Each of these behaviors increases the odds of a serious crash, even for a few seconds.

Cell phone use remains the most common and dangerous distraction. Sending a single text can take a driver’s eyes off the road for close to five seconds, enough time to travel the length of a football field at highway speed.

New Jersey law prohibits handheld cell phone use for all drivers. Drivers under 21 with a learner’s permit or provisional license cannot use any cell phone, hands-free or otherwise, while driving.

Fines for a first cell phone offense typically range from $200 to $400, with higher fines and possible license suspension for repeat offenses. These penalties address the traffic violation, but they do not compensate a victim injured in a resulting crash.

Why Distracted Driving Leads to More Serious Accidents

A distracted driver often fails to brake, swerve, or react in time to avoid a collision. This delayed reaction frequently results in higher-speed impacts compared with crashes involving alert drivers. The added force behind these collisions tends to cause more severe injuries.

Distracted drivers also miss warning signs that an attentive driver would catch. A pedestrian stepping off a curb, a car merging into a lane, or brake lights ahead can go unnoticed until it is too late to respond.

Rear-end collisions are especially common in distracted driving cases, often causing neck, back, and spinal injuries from the sudden impact. Distracted driving crashes can also occur at intersections when a driver fails to notice a red light or a car with the right of way, resulting in T-bone style collisions that strike a vehicle’s less protected side.

How Distracted Driving Is Increasing in New Jersey

Distracted driving has become a growing problem across New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety has reported that driver inattention was a major contributing factor in hundreds of thousands of crashes over a recent five-year period statewide.

New Jersey has ranked among the worst states in the country for distracted driving crashes in recent years, with distraction cited as a factor in a significant share of all traffic accidents. Traffic fatalities across New Jersey rose sharply in 2024, reaching a multi-decade high before state officials reported a meaningful decline in preliminary 2025 data.

Camden County, home to Cherry Hill, sees a steady share of these crashes each year on high-traffic corridors such as Route 70, Route 38, and Haddonfield Road. Local roads with frequent stop-and-go traffic, such as Kings Highway and the shopping corridors near the Cherry Hill Mall, see a high volume of rear-end and intersection crashes tied to driver inattention.

Cherry Hill’s mix of retail centers, office parks, and residential neighborhoods creates constant merging and turning movements throughout the day. Drivers checking phones or navigation apps while entering or exiting parking lots along Route 70 add to the risk for pedestrians and other motorists nearby.

How to Pursue Compensation for a Distracted Driving Accident

Building a strong claim starts with evidence. Police reports, witness statements, and photographs from the scene help establish that the other driver was not paying attention. Cell phone records can also play an important role, since an attorney can sometimes subpoena a driver’s records to determine whether they were texting or browsing at the time of the crash.

Medical records tie the crash directly to the injuries claimed. Consistent treatment and documentation of missed work strengthen a claim for full and fair compensation. New Jersey’s modified comparative negligence rule allows a victim to recover damages as long as they are found less than 51% at fault, although compensation is reduced by the victim’s own percentage of fault.

How the Insurance Company May Try to Blame You

Insurance companies often look for ways to shift blame onto the injured victim rather than the distracted driver. Adjusters may argue the victim was following too closely, changed lanes unsafely, or was partially distracted as well. Recorded statements are a common tactic, using leading questions designed to get a victim to say something that sounds like an admission of fault.

An attorney handles communication with the insurance company so that a victim does not have to navigate these tactics alone. This includes reviewing statement requests, gathering independent evidence of the other driver’s distraction, and calculating the full value of a claim, including future medical needs and lost earning capacity, before any settlement offer is accepted.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can a lawyer prove the other driver was distracted?
An attorney can review cell phone records, witness statements, and traffic camera footage to establish that the other driver was not paying attention at the time of the crash.

What if the insurance company says I was partly to blame?
New Jersey allows recovery as long as the victim’s fault is less than 51%, so an attorney can present evidence to counter unfair blame from an adjuster.

How long does a distracted driving claim usually take?
Timelines vary based on injury severity and whether the insurance company disputes fault, although gathering strong evidence early often speeds up a fair resolution.