Texting and distracted driving laws in Nebraska

If a driver who was staring at a phone hit you, Nebraska law is both more specific and more limited than most people assume. The state bans texting behind the wheel, but the rule has a narrow definition and an enforcement gap that shapes how tickets get written and how an injury claim comes together.

Here's what the statute covers, what it leaves out, and why any of it matters after a crash.

What Nebraska actually bans

Nebraska's texting law is Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,179.01. It prohibits using a handheld wireless communication device to "read a written communication, manually type a written communication, or send a written communication" while operating a motor vehicle that is in motion.¹

Read that closely. The ban is about written communication: texts and typed messages like email. It is not a general hands-free law. An adult driver can legally hold a phone to make a call, and the statute doesn't reach every kind of screen-tapping the way a true hands-free rule would. Because it's written so narrowly, conduct that plainly pulls a driver's attention, like scrolling a social feed or watching a video, sits in a gray area the statute doesn't clearly cover. Nebraska is also one of only about five states that has never passed a broad hands-free requirement.²

The law carves out two exceptions. It doesn't apply to law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel doing their jobs, and it doesn't apply to a driver using a device during an actual emergency.¹

The fines and the points

A violation is a traffic infraction. The fine climbs with each offense: $200 for a first offense, $300 for a second, and $500 for a third or later one.¹

There's also a mark on your driving record. A conviction adds three points to your Nebraska license under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-4,182, the same schedule that assigns points to every moving violation in the state.³ Points stack up, and enough of them in a short window puts your license at risk of revocation.

The enforcement gap

Here's the part that catches people off guard. Section 60-6,179.01 is enforced only as a secondary action. The statute says enforcement "shall be accomplished only as a secondary action when a driver of a motor vehicle has been cited or charged with a traffic violation or some other offense."¹ An officer can't pull you over just for texting. They need a separate reason for the stop, speeding or a broken taillight, and the texting citation gets added on top.

For a crash victim, that limit matters less than it sounds. Once a collision happens, the officer is already investigating, and phone use can be documented in the crash report and, if the case moves toward a claim or lawsuit, through the other driver's phone records. Secondary enforcement affects roadside tickets, not what you can prove about fault after the fact.

Stricter rules for young drivers and school buses

Two groups face tighter limits than the general written-communication ban.

Teen drivers on a Provisional Operator's Permit get no phone at all. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-4,120.01 says a POP holder "shall not use any type of interactive wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle on the highways of this state."⁴ That's a full ban, hands-free calls included, for the youngest licensed drivers.

School bus operators answer to a similar rule. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,179.02, a bus driver can't text or use a handheld phone during bus operations, except to reach law enforcement or emergency services.⁵ The fines track the general texting law at $200, $300, and $500.⁵

The hands-free bill that stalled

Nebraska lawmakers have tried to close these gaps. In the 2025 session, Sen. Jason Prokop introduced LB594, which would have banned holding or using a handheld device while driving and, more to the point, made it a primary offense so police could stop a driver for phone use alone.⁶ Supporters noted that Nebraska sits among the roughly five states with no hands-free law on the books.²

It didn't pass. After carrying over into the 2026 session, LB594 was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026.⁶ The written-communication ban and secondary enforcement in § 60-6,179.01 remain the law for now.¹

Why phone use matters to your injury claim

Distracted driving is more than a ticket. It shows up in the state's crash numbers: in 2017, the Nebraska Department of Transportation recorded 4,699 drivers involved in distracted-driving crashes and 19 deaths.⁷ When one of those crashes injures you, the other driver's phone use becomes evidence of negligence.

Nebraska is an at-fault state that follows a modified comparative negligence rule with a 50% bar. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09, your award is reduced by your share of fault, and you recover nothing if your fault is equal to or greater than the combined fault of everyone you're suing.⁸ Showing that the other driver was texting shifts fault onto them and protects your recovery.

Proving the distraction usually takes more than the officer's narrative. In a contested claim, lawyers subpoena the at-fault driver's cell phone records to line up call and text timestamps against the moment of impact, and many newer vehicles store speed and braking data in an event data recorder. You generally have four years from the date of the crash to file a personal-injury lawsuit in Nebraska under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207.⁹ That window is longer than in many states, but phone records and the police report are easiest to lock down early, before anything gets purged.

Insurance is the other piece. If the distracted driver who hit you carried no coverage or too little, Nebraska requires every auto policy to include uninsured and underinsured motorist protection of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6408, matching the state's liability minimum in § 60-509.¹⁰¹¹ That coverage on your own policy can pay when the at-fault driver can't.

If you need the official paperwork, start with your Nebraska crash report. If the wreck also cut your vehicle's resale value, that's a separate diminished value claim. And if the injuries are serious or fault is disputed, you can find a Nebraska attorney to review the facts before you deal with the insurer.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,179.01, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=60-6,179.01

2. "Primary enforcement of texting while driving considered," Unicameral Update, Nebraska Legislature. https://update.legislature.ne.gov/?p=37606

3. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-4,182, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=60-4,182

4. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-4,120.01, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=60-4,120.01

5. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,179.02, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=60-6,179.02

6. LB594, 109th Legislature, bill history, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59522

7. "Distracted Driving," Nebraska Department of Transportation. https://dot.nebraska.gov/safety/driving/distracted/

8. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-21,185.09

9. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-207

10. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6408, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6408

11. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-509, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=60-509