Serving Phone Records Subpoena for Distracted Driving in NY

The majority of distracted driving cases have been attributed to mobile phones while behind the wheel. According to the NYPD, 2,718 out of the 9,487 reported motor vehicle collisions in October 2020 are due to “Driver Inattention/Distraction.”

Simple actions like texting or talking on the phone take only a few minutes. However, many people fail to realize that the risk of an accident grows exponentially within that timeframe. If your client or their loved one is a victim of distracted driving, you may have considered using phone records to help shed light on what transpired at the time of the incident.

Using Cellphone Records as Evidence in Court

When a party files a car accident lawsuit, proving negligence beyond reasonable doubt can be difficult, especially if there were no passengers who could have served as witnesses or if the passengers are likely to be biased toward the defendant.

Fortunately, cell phone records, also known as “Call Detail Records,” are not protected by the Stored Communications Act and the Fourth Amendment and can be used as evidence in court.

For years, call detail records have played a key role in criminal cases. They can reveal important information like the user’s phone number, when and where calls and text messages were made, and when data was transferred. All these can be instrumental in proving that the person behind the wheel was using their phone during the accident.

Call records can be secured in two ways—by applying for and serving a subpoena or by sending a notarized request letter from the account holder to the cellphone carrier.

Serving Subpoenas in New York

Ordering phone records via a notarized letter may not always be possible, especially for cases resulting in fatalities. A subpoena might sometimes be the only option available. In New York, any individual, such as a friend or a relative, can serve the subpoena, as long as they are over the age of 18 and are not involved in the case. However, many law practices opt to hire licensed process servers to serve subpoenas.

Why Work with a Reputable Process Server in NYC

Serving process can be time-consuming, especially when recipients are hard to locate or are being evasive. At Serve Index LLC, we help lawyers and firms serve legal documents even in the most challenging circumstances.

We will see to it that all subpoenas are successfully hand-delivered to parties involved in a distracted driving case. These may include the defendant, the cellphone carrier, possible witnesses, and the entity that has access to CCTV footage of the accident.

Our licensed processed servers are well-versed in the laws governing the service of process in New York. You can be confident that we will provide accurate and efficient solutions to your process service needs. We can deliver subpoenas within the following time frames:

• Same Day Service: Documents are delivered within the same day.
• Rush Service: Documents will be delivered within 24 to 48 hours.
• Standard Service: Delivery will commence in 3 to 5 days.

To learn more about our services, call us at 1-888-994-6339 (toll-free) or send us a message.