Texting and distracted driving laws in Michigan

Michigan changed its rules for phones behind the wheel on June 30, 2023. That is the day a rewritten distracted driving statute took effect, and it moved the state from a narrow texting ban to a full hands-free rule.¹² If you were just in a crash and the other driver was on a phone, the details of this law matter, both for the ticket that driver may face and for your injury claim.

Here is what the statute actually says, what it still lets you do, and how a phone in someone's hand changes a Michigan case.

What the hands-free law bans

The controlling statute is MCL 257.602b, rewritten by 2023 Public Act 41.¹² For an ordinary driver, it is now illegal to "hold or use a mobile electronic device while operating a motor vehicle."¹ The law defines "hold" as physically supporting the device with any part of your hands, arms, or shoulders, so pinning a phone against your shoulder counts.¹

The word "use" is drawn broadly. You cannot make or take a phone or video call, send or read a text or email, watch or record video, post to social media, browse the internet, or type an address by hand into a navigation app while driving.¹³

One rule trips up a lot of drivers. This applies while you sit at a red light or wait in traffic. The statute defines "operate" to include a vehicle that is "temporarily stationary because of traffic, road conditions, a traffic light, or a stop sign."¹ You are clear only when the vehicle is lawfully parked.¹ Michigan also made this a primary offense, so an officer can stop you for the phone alone, with no other violation needed, though the same section bars police from searching you or your car just because of a phone violation.¹³ The state law overrides local phone ordinances too, except a local rule that substantially matches it, so the standard is the same across Michigan.¹

What is still allowed

The rule targets holding and manual use, so hands-free operation stays legal as long as your hands are off the device.¹ Two light physical actions are permitted: a single button press, tap, or swipe to activate a feature or pick a name or number, and using a system built permanently into the vehicle through its installed controls.¹ A phone sitting in a dashboard mount is fine, as long as you only touch it that lightly.¹³

Navigation is allowed if you are not typing information by hand while driving, so set the route before you pull out or use voice.¹ There is also a genuine emergency carve-out. You can call or text 911, or reach a police agency, hospital, fire department, or other emergency service, to report a crash, a fire, a road hazard, a reckless or apparently drunk driver, or a crime in progress.¹ On-duty police, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, and utility crews responding to a utility emergency are exempt while doing their jobs.¹

The penalties

For a regular driver, a first violation is a civil infraction carrying a $100 fine or 16 hours of community service, or both. A second or later violation runs $250 or 24 hours, or both.¹³ Commercial vehicle and school bus drivers face a steeper schedule of their own: $200 or 32 hours for a first offense, then $500 or 48 hours after that.¹

Two more rules matter. If you cause a crash and were at fault while holding or using a phone, the court must double the civil fine.¹³ And if you collect three violations within a three-year period, the court will order you to complete a basic driver improvement course.¹³

The current statute also has a sunset. It is written to expire five years after its effective date, which sets the expiration at June 30, 2028 unless the Legislature renews it.¹

How often distraction causes Michigan crashes

State crash data shows the size of the problem. In 2024, Michigan recorded 14,439 crashes that involved a distracted driver, and 56 of those were fatal, killing 65 people.⁴ Cell phone use was the identified distraction for 14.5 percent of distracted drivers, and other electronic devices added another 10.6 percent.⁴ More than a third of these crashes, 5,244 of them, happened at intersections.⁴ The heaviest counts landed in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, and Washtenaw counties.⁴

Those figures only capture crashes an officer could tie to distraction. Phone use is easy to hide and easy to deny, so the real total is almost certainly higher.

What a distracted driver means for your claim

Michigan is a no-fault state, so your own auto policy pays your medical bills and wage loss through personal injury protection first, whoever caused the crash.⁵ No-fault does not erase the other driver's responsibility for what personal injury protection will not cover.

To sue a distracted driver for pain and suffering, your injury has to clear Michigan's injury threshold. Under MCL 500.3135 you can recover non-economic damages only if the crash caused death, permanent serious disfigurement, or a "serious impairment of body function."⁶ Once you clear that bar, the other driver's phone use becomes some of the best evidence you have. A citation under MCL 257.602b and the driver's own phone records point straight at negligence.

Fault still gets divided. Michigan follows a modified comparative negligence rule, so your damages shrink by your share of the blame, and if you are found more than 50 percent at fault you cannot recover non-economic damages at all.⁷ Proof that the other driver was staring at a screen instead of the road helps keep that percentage where it belongs.

The deadlines are strict, and two clocks run at once. You generally have three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver.⁸ Personal injury protection benefits carry separate limits: you must notify the insurer within one year of the crash, and a claim can reach back only to recover expenses from the year before it was filed.⁵ Miss either and you can lose money you were owed.

If you need the official record of your wreck, start with a Michigan crash report. If your car lost resale value even after a solid repair, that is a separate diminished value claim. And if you want a lawyer who handles Michigan auto cases, the legal directory is the place to start.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Michigan Legislature, MCL 257.602b, Michigan Vehicle Code. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-257-602b

2. Michigan Legislature, House Bill 4250 of 2023 (Public Act 41 of 2023). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2023-HB-4250

3. Michigan State Police, Office of Highway Safety Planning, Go hands-free. Just drive. It's the law. https://www.michigan.gov/msp/-/media/Project/Websites/msp/ohsp/1_June-2023/Distracted-flyer-2023-for-email_04-web.pdf

4. Michigan Traffic Crash Facts, Driver Distraction fact sheet, 2024 (Michigan State Police, OHSP, and UMTRI). https://publications.michigantrafficcrashfacts.org/2024/2024DriverDistraction.pdf

5. Michigan Legislature, MCL 500.3145. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3145

6. Michigan Legislature, MCL 500.3135. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3135

7. Michigan Legislature, MCL 600.2959. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-2959

8. Michigan Legislature, MCL 600.5805. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-5805