If a driver looking at a phone just hit you in Wyoming, it helps to know exactly what the state bans, what it lets slide, and how that fits into a claim. Wyoming's rule is narrower than a lot of people assume. The state bans texting behind the wheel, but it does not ban holding a phone to make a call.
What Wyoming actually prohibits
The controlling statute is Wyo. Stat. 31-5-237. It makes it illegal to drive on a public street or highway while using a handheld wireless device to write, send, or read a text-based message.1 "Text-based" is read broadly, covering text messages, instant messages, and email.2
The exceptions are where the law gets narrow. The ban does not apply when the vehicle is lawfully parked, when you are contacting emergency responders, when you are entering or reading a phone number or a name to place or receive a call, or when you are using voice-operated or hands-free technology.1 So under state law you can legally hold your phone to dial a number and then talk on it. You just can't type out a message.
A violation is a misdemeanor. The statute caps the fine at $75.1 With mandatory court costs and surcharges added on top, though, the Wyoming Highway Patrol says a first offense now runs closer to $105, after a fee change that took effect July 1, 2024.3 Wyoming officers can stop you for texting alone. Nothing in the statute limits it to a secondary offense you can only be cited for after some other stop, and the ban has been in force since 2010.
Highway Patrol has been candid that the law is hard to enforce, in part because a driver holding a phone can always claim to be dialing a number, which is legal.3 For a crash victim, that enforcement gap matters less than it sounds. A citation is not what proves your civil case. Phone records, the other driver's own statements, and witness accounts carry the fault question in a claim.
No statewide handheld ban, but Jackson is stricter
Wyoming has no all-driver handheld ban and no separate cell phone ban for teen or novice drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's tracking of state device laws.2 That puts Wyoming among the more permissive states. Outside of the texting rule, an adult with a regular license can legally hold and use a phone while driving.
The Town of Jackson is the exception. Under Jackson municipal code 10.04.355, it is illegal to use a phone to make calls or text within town limits without a hands-free device.4 Drive through Jackson and the rule tightens to hands-free for everything, not just texting. If your crash happened inside town limits, that local ordinance can add a layer to the other driver's negligence that state law alone wouldn't reach.
WYDOT counts distraction among its focus areas for crash safety and publishes distracted-driving crash data in its annual Report on Traffic Crashes.5
How a distracted-driving crash affects your claim
Wyoming is an at-fault state, so the driver who caused the crash, and their insurer, pays for the harm. Fault is shared under a modified comparative negligence rule with a 51% bar. You can recover as long as your share of the blame is 50% or less, and your award drops by your own percentage of fault (Wyo. Stat. 1-1-109).6 Evidence that the other driver was texting pushes their share of fault up, which is the direction you want it to move.
Serious cases can go further. In Danculovich v. Brown, the Wyoming Supreme Court held that when a driver's conduct is willful and wanton, the injured party can recover pecuniary damages without any reduction for comparative negligence, plus exemplary (punitive) damages.7 Whether a given instance of phone use clears that bar is fact-specific and takes clear and convincing proof, but egregious distraction is the kind of conduct that can open the door.
Wyoming does not cap what you can recover. The state constitution bars the legislature from limiting damages for injury or death, with a narrow carve-out for noneconomic damages in medical-malpractice cases that does not reach car crashes (Wyo. Const. art. 10, sec. 4).8 There is no ceiling on your medical bills, lost income, pain, or on a punitive award.
Watch the deadline. You generally have four years from the crash date to file an injury lawsuit in Wyoming (Wyo. Stat. 1-3-105(a)(iv)(C)), and the same four-year window applies to claims for damage to your vehicle and other property (subsection (a)(iv)(B)).9 Four years is longer than many states allow, but phone logs and vehicle data get harder to preserve the longer you wait.
Insurance and what a driver must carry
Wyoming's minimum liability limits are 25/50/20: $25,000 for bodily injury to one person, $50,000 per accident, and $20,000 for property damage (Wyo. Stat. 31-9-405).10 Those are floors, and a serious injury can blow past them quickly.
That is why uninsured and underinsured coverage matters. Under Wyo. Stat. 31-10-101, every auto liability policy in Wyoming must include uninsured motorist coverage unless you reject it in writing.11 Underinsured motorist coverage sits a step further out. It isn't mandated at all, not even as a required offer, so it's an optional add-on you have to ask for. If you carry it and the at-fault driver's limits fall short, it's often what actually covers your losses.
Wyoming has no PIP or no-fault system. Insurers only have to offer optional Medical Payments Coverage, which pays medical and funeral costs regardless of who was at fault, so there's no first-party PIP deadline to miss because there's no PIP to file.12 If a drunk driver hit you, note that Wyoming's dram shop law is narrow: someone who legally serves alcohol is generally immune for the drinker's later harm unless the alcohol went to a minor or was otherwise served in violation of the liquor code (Wyo. Stat. 12-8-301).13
After the crash
Wyoming's crash reports come from WYDOT's Highway Safety program and cost $3.00, plus $2.50 if you pay by card.14 That report anchors the who and where of your claim. For how to request yours, see Wyoming crash reports.
If the collision totaled or seriously damaged your car, the drop in its resale value after repairs is its own claim in Wyoming. See diminished value in Wyoming. And if you're weighing whether to handle a distracted-driving claim yourself, a lawyer's read on fault and coverage can be worth it before you talk to an adjuster. You can start with the legal directory.
This article is general information about Wyoming law, not legal advice for your specific situation.
Sources
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Wyoming Statutes § 31-5-237, Use of Handheld Electronic Wireless Communication Devices for Electronic Messaging Prohibited; Exceptions; Penalties. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-31/chapter-5/article-2/section-31-5-237/
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Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Electronic device use laws by state. https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/distracted-driving/electronic-device-laws
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Jackson Hole News & Guide, "Texting and driving fines increase in Wyoming." https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/the_hole_scroll/texting-and-driving-fines-increase-in-wyoming/article_41373c3a-5034-11ef-a125-7fce3f7577f9.html
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Town of Jackson, Wyoming, Municipal Ordinances of Note (MC 10.04.355). https://www.jacksonwy.gov/332/Municipal-Ordinances-of-Note
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Wyoming Department of Transportation, Crash Data Publications (Report on Traffic Crashes). https://dot.state.wy.us/home/dot_safety/crash-data/publications.html
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Wyoming Statutes § 1-1-109, Comparative fault. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-1/chapter-1/section-1-1-109/
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Danculovich v. Brown, 593 P.2d 187 (Wyo. 1979). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1134542/danculovich-v-brown/
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Wyoming Constitution, art. 10, sec. 4. https://sos.wyo.gov/Forms/Publications/WYConstitution.pdf
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Wyoming Statutes § 1-3-105, Actions Other Than Recovery of Real Property. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-1/chapter-3/section-1-3-105/
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Wyoming Statutes § 31-9-405, Liability Policy Defined; Required Coverage. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-31/chapter-9/article-4/section-31-9-405/
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Wyoming Statutes § 31-10-101, Uninsured motorist coverage. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-31/chapter-10/section-31-10-101/
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Wyoming Department of Insurance, consumer insurance topics. https://doi.wyo.gov/consumers/insurance-topics
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Wyoming Statutes § 12-8-301, Liability of persons furnishing alcohol. https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-12/chapter-8/article-3/section-12-8-301/
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Wyoming Department of Transportation, Highway Safety, Requesting Crash Reports. https://www.dot.state.wy.us/home/dot_safety/crash-reports/requesting-crash-reports.html