HANG UP PHONE OR BE FINED? SENATE BILL TARGETS DRIVERS USING HANDHELD DEVICES.

Byline: STEVE GEISSINGER Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO -- Motorists would be banned from using handheld cell phones -- a problem blamed for thousands of vehicle crashes and fatalities -- under a bill expected to be approved by the Legislature next week.

Modeled after a New York City law, Senate Bill 1613 would fine drivers using handheld cell phones $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses beginning Jan. 1, 2008.

It would not apply to drivers using hands-free models and would exempt motorists using handheld cell phones in emergencies. And the legislation would remain in effect only until July 1, 2011, unless renewed.

``Cell phones are the No. 1 cause of distracted-driving accidents in California,'' said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who authored the bill as well as five previous versions.

``Accidents by drivers using handheld phones outnumber those driving hands-free by a ratio of 25 to 1,'' he said. ``The difference between hands-free and handheld is life and death.''

If SB 1613 is approved during the last week of the legislative session, it would go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for consideration.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Darrel Ng said Friday that the Governor's Office ``is actively working with the author on the bill.''

In working on the bill for the past six years, Simitian has managed to eliminate most of the opposition to the measure. The exception is Sprint Nextel, which issued a statement saying the bill ``fails to address the real public issue of inattentive driving.''

``And it singles-out one potential distraction, the hand-held wireless phone, and penalizes even the driver who is operating the vehicle in a safe and responsible manner.''

Supporters include insurance companies and law enforcement groups across the state. The Los Angeles City Council voted in June to back the state legislation, despite concerns that it might be unenforceable.

But Capt. Ronald Marbrey, who heads the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division, predicted that law enforcement officers won't hesitate to enforce the law.

``We hope there will be voluntary compliance,'' Marbrey said. ``But an individual just driving down the road, and being in control, may get stopped.''

According to a 2004 report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, as many as 70 percent of motorists use their cell phones while driving.

A study by the California Highway Patrol found that cell phones have been the most common cause of distracted-driving accidents each year since 2001.

During a six-month period in 2002, the California Highway Patrol recorded 491,083 crashes. Of those, 5,677 were related to some sort of inattention and 611 -- or about 11 percent -- were caused by cell phones.

And the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis estimates that cell-phone use while driving likely has been responsible for more than 2,600 deaths, 330,000 injuries and 1.5 million instances of property damage nationwide.

Technology has made hands-free cell-phone use possible for years but fewer than one-third of motorists take advantage of the devices while driving, according to a Harris Interactive online poll conducted earlier this year.

But critics include the Governors Highway Safety Association, which says handheld-cell-phone bans send the wrong message to drivers -- giving them a false sense of safety by implying that it's safe to use hands-free cell phones while driving.

The association says any distraction -- including eating, adjusting the radio and talking with passengers in the vehicle -- is a safety hazard.

Earlier this year, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey enacted fines of $100 or more for holding a cell phone while driving. New York has had a similar law since 2001.

sgeissinger(at)angnewspapers.com

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A driver talks on her cell phone while driving in Thousand Oaks on Friday. Senate Bill 1613 would fine such drivers.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer