Distracted Driving: Determining Cell Phone Usage from Forensic Cellular Records

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of an alleged texting-while-driving collision case involving cellular call records. The plaintiff’s expert, unfamiliar with cellular networks, made serious errors in interpreting the cellular records, which resulted in a mischaracterization of the defendant’s cell phone usage at the time of the collision. Thus, the plaintiff’s expert could not support his opinion that the defendant was using her phone at the time of the collision. The expert made three critical mistakes interpreting the cellular records — mistakes that are commonly made by analysts who are unfamiliar with the design and operation of cellular phone networks. This paper explains the common mistakes and faulty assumptions behind them. The proper analysis methods of a qualified engineer with an understanding of cellular networks are also presented.