Texting and distracted driving laws in Indiana

If a driver who was staring at a phone just hit you, Indiana law is more on your side than it was a few years ago. Since July 1, 2020, Indiana has been a hands-free state, which means a driver can't hold a phone or tablet at all while the vehicle is moving.¹²

This page covers what that rule actually says, what it costs to break it, the tighter limits on drivers under 21, and how a distracted-driving violation can matter if you were hurt and are thinking about a claim.

What the hands-free law bans

The controlling statute is Indiana Code 9-21-8-59, passed as House Enrolled Act 1070. It says a person may not hold or use a telecommunications device while operating a moving motor vehicle.¹ A telecommunications device means a phone, tablet, or similar handheld gadget, and the ban reaches texting, scrolling, dialing by hand, or holding the phone to your ear.³ "Hold" is the word that changed everything. Under the older law an officer had to catch you typing. Now the violation is simply having the phone in your hand behind the wheel, even while you sit at a red light.³

Because holding the device is itself the offense, this is a primary-enforcement law. Police can pull you over for that alone, with no other traffic violation involved.⁴ It applies any time the vehicle is moving, including stop-and-go traffic.

What you can still do

The law isn't a ban on technology in the car. You can use a phone with hands-free or voice-operated tech such as Bluetooth or a voice assistant, and you can run GPS or a maps app as long as it's mounted and you're using it hands-free.² You can also hold or use a device to call 911 to report a real emergency.¹

The dividing line is your hands. If the phone is in a mount and you're talking to it or tapping through Android Auto or CarPlay, you're within the law. Pick it up, and you're not.

From a texting ban to a hands-free rule

Indiana didn't start here. The state banned texting while driving in 2011, but that law reached only typing or reading a text or email.² It proved nearly impossible to enforce. In United States v. Paniagua-Garcia, the Seventh Circuit threw out a traffic stop where an officer said a driver "appeared to be texting," because holding a phone and looking down is just as consistent with dialing a call, checking a map, or picking a song. A suspicion broad enough to let police stop a large share of lawfully driving people, the court held, isn't reasonable.⁵

The 2020 hands-free law closed that gap. An officer no longer has to prove what was on your screen. The phone in your hand is the violation.

What a ticket costs

A hands-free violation is a Class C infraction.¹ Under Indiana Code 34-28-5-4, a Class C infraction carries a judgment of up to $500.⁶ The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute describes the real-world penalty as fines up to $500 plus points added to your driving record.³

For many drivers the points sting more than the fine. The BMV began adding points to violators' records on July 1, 2021, and the offense is scored as a four-point violation.² Points stack with your other tickets, and enough of them in a short span can push the BMV to suspend your license. Because the ticket is an infraction and not a crime, it carries no jail time, but it still goes on your record and can raise your insurance.

Tighter rules for drivers under 21

Indiana holds young drivers to a stricter standard. A probationary license, which is any license issued before age 21, comes with a flat rule from the BMV: you may not use any type of telecommunication device while driving except to make emergency 911 calls.⁷ That includes hands-free. The Bluetooth-and-voice exception the rest of us get does not apply to drivers under 21.⁸

This limit sits next to the other graduated-license conditions, including nighttime curfews and, during the first 180 days, a cap on passengers.⁷ Breaking it is a Class C infraction and can put a probationary license at risk of suspension.

How often distraction causes crashes here

The state's crash numbers come from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and are analyzed by the Indiana University Public Policy Institute from police reports. Indiana recorded 200,035 traffic crashes and 872 traffic deaths in 2024.⁹ Distraction was listed as the primary factor in 7,970 of those crashes, 13 of them fatal, and a cell phone or other electronic device was specifically cited in 649 of them.⁹ The pattern is ordinary rather than late-night: distracted-driving crashes peaked on Fridays between noon and 6 p.m. in 2024, during everyday commuting and errand hours.⁹

Those counts almost certainly run low. Distraction is hard to prove after a wreck, and Indiana's own safety officials say far more crashes are device-related than ever get recorded that way.² The national figure is grimmer: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration counted 3,275 people killed in distracted-driving crashes in 2023.¹⁰ Enforcement has grown with the law. In its first year, Indiana officers handed out more than 5,000 hands-free citations and 10,000 warnings.¹¹

Why a distracted-driving violation matters to your claim

If the driver who hit you was holding a phone, that fact can carry real weight. A hands-free citation, phone records, or an admission all help show the other driver, and not you, caused the crash.

Fault-sharing is where it pays off. Indiana uses modified comparative fault under Indiana Code 34-51-2-6: your compensation drops by your own percentage of blame, and if you're found 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing.¹² Pinning distraction on the other driver moves more of that fault onto them. Watch the clock, too. Indiana's statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit.¹³

A few practical moves help your case. Pull the official Indiana crash report, which records the officer's findings and any citation. If your car is worth less after the repair than it was before, that's a separate diminished value claim. And if you're deciding whether to handle a distracted-driving injury claim on your own or get help, you can find an Indiana attorney through our legal directory.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Indiana Code 9-21-8-59, Use of telecommunications device while operating a moving motor vehicle (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-21-8-59

2. Indiana Hands-Free Driving Law Fact Sheet, House Enrolled Act 1070 (Indiana Department of Transportation). https://www.in.gov/indot/files/fact-sheet-1.pdf

3. Distracted Driving FAQs (Indiana Criminal Justice Institute). https://www.in.gov/cji/traffic-safety/files/ICJI_DistractedDriving-FAQs.pdf

4. Hands-Free Indiana (Indiana Department of Transportation). https://www.in.gov/indot/safety/hands-free-indiana/

5. United States v. Paniagua-Garcia, 813 F.3d 1013 (7th Cir. 2016). https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca7/15-2540/15-2540-2016-02-18.html

6. Indiana Code 34-28-5-4, Judgment for infractions (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-28-5-4

7. Probationary Driver's License (Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles). https://www.in.gov/bmv/licenses-permits-ids/learners-permits-and-drivers-licenses-overview/drivers-license/probationary-drivers-license

8. Indiana Code 9-24-11-3.7, Operation of motor vehicle by individual less than 21 years of age while using a telecommunications device prohibited (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-24-11-3.7

9. Indiana Crash Facts 2024 (Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and Indiana University Public Policy Institute). https://www.in.gov/cji/research/files/IndianaCrashFacts2024-with-accessibility.pdf

10. Distracted Driving (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving

11. What is distracted driving (Indiana Criminal Justice Institute). https://www.in.gov/cji/traffic-safety/distracted-driving/

12. Indiana Code 34-51-2-6, Comparative fault (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-51-2-6

13. Indiana Code 34-11-2-4, Statute of limitations for injury to person or personal property (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-11-2-4