Texting and distracted driving laws in Arkansas

If a driver hit you while looking at a phone, Arkansas law works in your favor two ways. The conduct was almost certainly illegal, and the citation can become evidence when you pursue the at-fault driver for your injuries. Here is what the state prohibits, who each rule applies to, and how a distracted-driving violation fits into a crash claim. Distracted driving is one of the crash types Arkansas has legislated against most aggressively over the past two decades, and the rules stack differently depending on your age and where you are driving.

What Arkansas bans behind the wheel

The main rule is Paul's Law, Ark. Code Ann. § 27-51-1504.¹ It makes it illegal for any driver, at any age, to operate a vehicle while using a wireless device to send or read a text or to access, read, or post to a social networking site.¹ Texting is broader than it sounds. The definitions section, § 27-51-1503, defines it to cover SMS messages, email, instant messaging, and any other manual entry or retrieval of electronic data.² Checking email or typing an address into a maps app falls inside the ban.

Paul's Law is a primary offense, so an officer who sees you thumbing a message can stop you for that alone.¹ It is named for Paul Davidson, an Arkansan killed in a 2008 head-on crash caused by a texting driver. The one consistent carve-out across Arkansas's distracted-driving statutes is using a device to summon emergency help.

There is a real gap in the statute. Arkansas has no statewide hands-free requirement for adult drivers. If you are 21 or older, simply holding your phone for a call is not by itself a state violation, even though texting and social media use still are.¹ Some Arkansas cities have passed their own handheld ordinances, so a local rule can be stricter than the state floor.

The rules tighten with the driver's age

Teen drivers face the strictest version. Under Ark. Code Ann. § 27-51-1603, a driver younger than 18 may not use a wireless device at all while driving, including a hands-free setup, unless it is an emergency.³

Drivers who are 18, 19, or 20 sit in a middle tier. Under § 27-51-1604, they cannot use a handheld device for calls or messaging, but hands-free operation is allowed, again with an emergency exception.⁴ For that group the phone has to be voice-operated, and for anyone under 18 it has to be put away.

School zones and work zones add a handheld ban for everyone

Two settings pull every driver, whatever their age, under a handheld ban.

The Fewer Distractions Mean Safer Driving Act bars any driver from using a handheld wireless phone while passing a school building or through a school zone during school hours when children are present and outside, under § 27-51-1605.⁵ Hands-free and emergency use are the exceptions.

Highway work zones carry the same kind of rule. Under § 27-51-1606, a driver may not use a handheld device in a highway work zone when a worker is present, with hands-free use exempted.⁶ Enforcement here has teeth that the other distracted-driving rules do not. The Arkansas Department of Transportation added software to its existing work-zone speed cameras so they can flag a driver holding a phone, and that capability went live in mid-January 2026.⁷ It is not a ticket-by-mail system. The camera alerts an officer downstream who makes the stop, and the state does not keep the footage unless it supports a warning or citation.⁷

What a distracted-driving ticket costs

Penalties for Paul's Law are set in § 27-51-1506. A first offense runs from $25 to $250, and each later offense from $50 to $500.⁸ The base violation is a fine, not jail. But if your phone use causes a crash, the court adds a second fine equal to double the base amount.⁸

The exposure jumps when someone is hurt. Ashton's and Abbie's Law, enacted as Act 445 of 2023, amended the distracted-driving statutes so that a violation causing serious physical injury or death is a Class A misdemeanor.⁹ In Arkansas that means up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, and the court can order up to 100 hours of public service work.⁸⁹ The law is named for two people killed by distracted drivers and was signed in April 2023.⁹

How the citation affects your injury claim

Arkansas is an at-fault state, so the driver who caused the crash and their insurer are responsible for the harm. A texting citation matters here because violating a safety statute like Paul's Law is evidence of negligence that a jury can weigh against the other driver. It does not decide the case on its own, but it points hard at fault, and the driver's phone records are fair game in discovery to confirm what happened. Because a carrier keeps detailed records for only a limited window, it helps to flag a suspected texting driver to your attorney early so the data can be preserved.

Fault is not all-or-nothing in Arkansas. The state uses modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-64-122. You can recover only if your share of the fault is less than the combined fault of the parties you sue, and your award is reduced by your own percentage.¹⁰ A clear statutory violation by a distracted driver tends to move that split in the injured person's favor.

Two figures shape what you can collect. Arkansas requires only 25/50/25 liability coverage, $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries plus $25,000 for property damage, under § 27-22-104.¹¹ A serious injury can burn through those limits fast, which is when underinsured-motorist coverage starts to matter. And you generally have three years from the date of the crash to file suit for your injuries under § 16-56-105.¹² Let that deadline pass and the claim is gone, however obvious the other driver's texting was.

To build the case, the police crash report records what the officer found at the scene, a diminished value claim can recover the lost resale value of a repaired vehicle, and you can find an attorney to handle the fault dispute with the insurer.

This article is general information about Arkansas law, not legal advice for your situation.

Sources

1. Arkansas Code Annotated § 27-51-1504 (Paul's Law), use of wireless telecommunications device when driving. https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-15/section-27-51-1504/

2. Arkansas Code Annotated § 27-51-1503, Paul's Law definitions (definition of "texting"). https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-15/section-27-51-1503/

3. Arkansas Code Annotated § 27-51-1603, restrictions on drivers under 18 (Fewer Distractions Mean Safer Driving Act). https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-16/section-27-51-1603/

4. Arkansas Code Annotated § 27-51-1604, restrictions on drivers at least 18 but under 21. https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-16/section-27-51-1604/

5. Arkansas Code Annotated § 27-51-1605, restrictions in school zones. https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-16/section-27-51-1605/

6. Arkansas Code Annotated § 27-51-1606, restrictions in highway work zones. https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-16/section-27-51-1606/

7. Arkansas Department of Transportation, "Work Zone Cameras Now Able to Detect Handheld Device Usage" (Arkansas Highway Police enforcement). https://ardot.gov/news/25-209/

8. Arkansas Code Annotated § 27-51-1506, Paul's Law penalties. https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-15/section-27-51-1506/

9. Act 445 of 2023 (House Bill 1486), Ashton's and Abbie's Law, amending Arkansas's distracted-driving statutes. https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2FACT445.pdf

10. Arkansas Code Annotated § 16-64-122, comparative fault. https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-64/section-16-64-122/

11. Arkansas Code Annotated § 27-22-104, minimum motor vehicle liability coverage. https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-2/chapter-22/subchapter-1/section-27-22-104/

12. Arkansas Code Annotated § 16-56-105, three-year limitations period for personal injury. https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-56/subchapter-1/section-16-56-105/