PHONES A TOP DRIVER HAZARD 2002 TOTAL NEARLY DOUBLES '01 COUNT.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

Talking on a cell phone was the most common cause of crashes caused by driver distraction on Los Angeles County freeways and streets last year, according to a recent CHP report.

According to state statistics requested by the Daily News, 307 motorists involved in Los Angeles County crashes in 2002 were using cell phones prior to the crash, compared with 187 who crashed while reaching to adjust their stereos.

Only 3.4 percent of the 323,581 total collisions reported across the county last year were caused by distracted drivers, the statistics show. But the percentage could be higher because drivers have to admit being distracted or officers must find evidence of it before the crash is included.

Officials say that more and more distractions are taking drivers' attention away from driving.

``The priority needs to be on driving the car,'' said California Highway Patrol Commissioner Spike Helmick. ``Distractions are a concern. Accidents have increased.''

The CHP has been collecting crash statistics from police departments across California, categorized by the type of distraction, to make a stronger case for legislation against inattentive driving, Helmick said.

If they can find evidence of it, law enforcement officials filling out collision reports are required to keep statistics in 11 categories of distractions - cell phones, electric equipment, radio/CD, smoking, eating, children, animal, personal hygiene, reading, other and not stated.

The most common distractions are cell phones, radios and children. But as more vehicles come equipped with DVD players, global positioning satellite receivers and high-voltage power outlets, police say more motorists use their vehicles as mobile living rooms.

Drivers use cell phones, women put on makeup, men shave and both men and women read newspapers, books and magazines while driving, said LAPD Sgt. Nels Jensen of the Valley Traffic Division.

``You see people with dogs on their laps or right up against the steering wheel or up against the driver's window,'' said Valley Traffic Division head Capt. Greg Meyer. ``All these things are not anything anybody learned in driver's training. That's not how you operate a vehicle.''

In Los Angeles County, 11 motorists who crashed last year were distracted while tending to personal hygiene last year, compared with four in 2001, the CHP said. In addition, 29 people were using electric equipment when they crashed, compared to 11 in 2001.

By comparison, motorists distracted by cell phones jumped from 163 in 2001 to 307 in 2002, the report said.

The numbers are minuscule compared with the more than 300,000 crashes recorded in the county, but that could be due to the lack of hard evidence at the scene.

``Nobody's going to cop to using a cell phone when they get into a crash,'' said Jensen. ``A lot of times they can just hide them. Unless we see food spread out all over front seat, it's pretty hard to figure out what they were distracted by.''

California has two bills pending in Sacramento that would ban motorists from talking on cell phones or from doing other things that distract from driving.

Since 2000, all 50 states have considered legislation related to distracted driving. Seventeen states have passed some form of such law, according to the National Council of State Legislatures.

In 2001, New York passed the most stringent, making it illegal to use hand-held cell phones while driving. Fines can top $100.

Assemblyman Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who authored Assembly Bill 45 - the California Wireless Telephone Safety Act, said it's time California considered passing such a law.

``We need to make it unlawful to clutch a cell phone to the ear while driving,'' he said. ``We're getting there.''

But the cell phone industry said it is being singled out among countless other distractions as a threat to highway safety.

``Singling out cell phones is not going to solve the distracted-while- driving problem,'' said Kimberly Kuo, a spokeswoman for the Cellular Telephone and Internet Association in Washington, D.C. ``It's part of a bigger problem. There are a lot of things that cause distractions.''

Lisa Sheikh, executive director of the Washington-based Partnership for Safe Driving, said cell phones are the biggest factor. ``In study after study, cell phones come out on top of all the distractions.''

Another safety advocate said cell phones are one of many problems on the road. ``People do all kinds of goofy stuff while they're driving,'' said Frances Bents, vice president of Dynamic Science Inc., a health and safety research consulting firm in Annapolis, Md.

``There are no excuses for eating, reading, drinking or talking on the cell phone while driving. Pull over to the side of the road.''

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

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SOURCE: California Highway Patrol