Texting and distracted driving laws in Illinois

Getting hit by someone who was looking at a phone is one of the more common ways people end up on this site. In Chicago alone, thatcarhitme.com recorded 109,112 crashes in 2025, and another 9,461 in January 2026 ¹². Statewide, Illinois logged 303,913 crashes in 2024, with 1,085 of them fatal ³. Nationally, NHTSA ties 3,275 deaths in 2023 to driver distraction, about 13% of all crashes, and it warns those numbers understate the problem because distraction is hard to prove after a wreck ⁴.

If a distracted driver hurt you in Illinois, two questions decide your case: what the law says that driver did wrong, and how that fault carries into your claim. Here is what the statutes actually say.

What Illinois bans behind the wheel

The main rule is 625 ILCS 5/12-610.2. It prohibits holding or using a wireless phone or other electronic communication device while driving on any Illinois road ⁵. That reaches the obvious conduct, calls and texting, and also watching or streaming video, joining a video conference, and opening social media apps such as Facebook or Instagram ⁵. Illinois is a hands-free state, so the device cannot be in your hand while the car is moving.

Being stopped at a red light does not create an exception. The statute only excuses use when you have parked on the shoulder or shifted into neutral or park while stopped in traffic ⁵. A phone in your hand while the car sits in Drive at a light is still a violation.

The law does leave narrow openings. You can use voice-activated or hands-free mode, press a single button to start or end a call, and use a device to report an emergency ⁵. There are separate carve-outs for two-way and amateur radio, for police and first responders performing their duties, and for commercial drivers using a permanently mounted screen no larger than 10 inches by 10 inches ⁵.

The fines, and when it becomes a crime

A first violation of the hands-free law carries a fine of up to $75. It rises to $100 for a second offense, $125 for a third, and $150 for a fourth or later one ⁵. Illinois treats the offense as a moving violation, so it lands on your driving record and counts toward a license suspension once you accumulate enough of them ⁵.

The exposure grows sharply when the distraction hurts someone. Under the aggravated-use provisions of the same statute, causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or disfigurement with a handheld device is a Class A misdemeanor, and causing a death is a Class 4 felony ⁵. Aggravated violations carry a minimum fine of $1,000 ⁵. For an injury claim, a citation or conviction under this statute is direct evidence that the other driver broke a safety law written to prevent exactly the crash you were in.

Stricter rules for teen drivers and certain zones

Illinois holds its newest drivers to a tighter line. Under 625 ILCS 5/12-610.1, a driver under 19 who holds an instruction permit or a graduated license may not use a wireless phone at all while driving, hands-free included, except to report an emergency ⁶. That same section limits device use for every driver inside a school speed zone, inside a highway construction or maintenance zone, and within 500 feet of an active emergency scene ⁶.

What may change soon

Lawmakers in Springfield have floated stiffer penalties. SB2791 would raise the fines to $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second (along with a required Distracted Driving Safety Course), and $750 for a third, adding a license suspension of three to six months on that third strike ⁷. As of 2026 the bill sits in committee and is not law; if it passes, it would take effect January 1, 2027 ⁷. Until then, the $75 to $150 schedule is what applies.

How a driver's distraction affects your claim

Illinois is an at-fault (tort) state, so the driver who caused the crash and that driver's insurer are responsible for the harm. Fault runs through a modified comparative negligence rule, 735 ILCS 5/2-1116 ⁸⁹. Two consequences flow from it. Your recovery drops by your own percentage of fault, and if you are found more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing ⁸. That 51% bar is the reason proving the other driver's distraction carries so much weight; it moves the fault math in your direction.

Distraction seldom leaves an obvious mark. The evidence that tends to matter is phone records showing a call or text at the time of impact, the driver's own admissions, statements from witnesses, and any citation issued under 12-610.2. A lawyer can subpoena the carrier's records, and if prosecutors filed an aggravated-use charge, that tells you police already believed a device was in play. To match your situation to counsel, thatcarhitme.com keeps a legal directory.

Deadlines and coverage gaps

Illinois gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, under 735 ILCS 5/13-202 ¹⁰. Damage to your vehicle runs on a separate and longer clock, five years, under the general property limitation in 735 ILCS 5/13-205 ¹¹. A pending criminal case against the distracted driver does not pause either deadline, so treat the two-year date as firm.

Pull the police crash report early, both to read how the officer recorded the distraction and to confirm the at-fault driver's insurer. thatcarhitme.com walks through how to get one on its Illinois crash reports page.

Thin coverage is a real risk when a texting driver is underinsured. Illinois requires only 25/50/20 in liability limits, meaning $25,000 per injured person, $50,000 per crash, and $20,000 for property damage, and those minimums have not moved since 2015 ¹². When your injuries exceed the at-fault policy, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage takes over; Illinois requires UM bodily injury coverage to match your liability limits, with UIM available on top ¹³. If your car is worth less on paper even after a clean repair, that loss is its own claim, explained on the Illinois diminished value page.

Proving a distracted-driving claim comes down to showing the other driver was on a phone and that it caused your injuries. Illinois law gives you the statute and the two-year clock to do exactly that.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. thatcarhitme.com, Chicago Year-over-Year Crash Report, 2025 vs 2024. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/illinois/chicago/2025-annual-report

2. thatcarhitme.com, Chicago Crash Report, January 2026. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/illinois/chicago/january-2026-report

3. Illinois Department of Transportation, 2024 Illinois Crash Facts & Statistics. https://idot.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idot/documents/transportation-system/resources/safety/crash-reports/crash-facts/2024-crash-facts.pdf

4. NHTSA, Distracted Driving (2023 fatality and injury data). https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving

5. 625 ILCS 5/12-610.2, Electronic communication devices. https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/062500050K12-610.2.htm

6. 625 ILCS 5/12-610.1, Wireless telephones. https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/062500050K12-610.1.htm

7. Illinois General Assembly, Bill Status of SB2791 (104th General Assembly). https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=2791&GAID=18&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=164850&sessionid=114

8. 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, Comparative fault. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/073500050K2-1116.htm

9. Illinois Department of Insurance, Comparative Negligence. https://idoi.illinois.gov/consumers/consumerinsurance/comparative-negligence.html

10. 735 ILCS 5/13-202, Personal injury limitation. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=073500050K13-202

11. 735 ILCS 5/13-205, Five-year limitation (property damage). https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/073500050k13-205.htm

12. 625 ILCS 5/7-203, Required minimum liability limits. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext?DocName=062500050K7-203

13. 215 ILCS 5/143a, Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext?DocName=021500050K143a