CHATTERBOXES A PROBLEM STUDY: TALKING, NOT CELL PHONES, CAUSE OF COLLISIONS.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

Cell phones don't cause car crashes, chatting does.

That's the conclusion of a new study by an expert on driving habits. And it conflicts with the trend in state capitols across the country, where legislators are drafting laws to ban handheld cell phones for drivers.

``It's not having your hands taken away (that causes crashes), it's having your mind taken away from the road,'' said Paul Atchley, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kansas who has studied driver habits.

New York State recently passed the first state law against using handheld cell phones while driving. There are currently 44 state governments considering laws on the use of cell phones by drivers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The New York law bans handheld phones while permitting hands-free phones and the emergency use of phones.

``You can't blame accidents on telephones,'' said Robert Sorten, a West Hills accountant using a handheld phone while searching for a parking spot on a busy boulevard in Woodland Hills. ``What are they going to ban next?''

Sorten's point of view has been widely echoed by cellular phone company lobbyists who claim that safe-driving education would be far more effective in preventing crashes than banning the use of cellular telephones.

According to studies conducted by Atchley, the average person is only capable of dividing his attention among four objects at any given time. A cell phone conversation while driving could be dangerous, he said.

``In a cellular phone conversation, it's not just the process of listening. Not only do you have to listen, but you also have to think about what the person is saying, and plan for your response, and that's taking some resources that you would be using to plan to drive,'' Atchley said.

But others say that restrictions on handheld devices will reduce traffic crashes and create safer drivers.

Valerie Rojas said she purchased a hands-free phone after witnessing a motorist rear-end another car while talking on his cell phone.

``It makes a world of difference,'' said the office manager from Van Nuys. ``Traffic is so crazy sometimes, you can't just drive with one hand.''

Bills have also been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate regulating cell phone use while driving. Congressman Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., and Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., introduced the two bills, both of which allow states to permit hands-free and emergency use of phones. Federal highway funds would be withheld if states do not enact cell phone bans.

Local governments have also entered into the fray over cell phone safety in cars. In the Los Angeles area, the Santa Monica City Council last year voted down a ban on handheld phones. Bills that would ban cell phone use statewide are being considered in Sacramento.

Ackerman claims that as many as 4,600 daily crashes nationwide are caused by driver distractions, although there are no statistics on how many of those collisions involved the use of cell phones.

However, a 1997 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that drivers talking on any kind of cell phone run quadruple the risk of a driving crash.

CAPTION(S):

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Map:

CELL PHONE ISSUE

the 44 shaded states have introduced legislation this year on restricting the use of cell phones while driving.

SOURCE: National Conference of State Legislatures

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist