Police chief changes view on cell phones

a 
Date: 2002-11-12

Comments (10)    Join conversation

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has pulled back a report to legislators on the role of mobile phones in traffic accidents after learning it may have drastically understated the problem, says a recent Los Angeles Times article. CHP commissioner Dwight O. Helmick said he has changed his view on cell phones and now believes California should permit drivers to use only hands-free equipment. A bill is being introduced next month in the Legislature for the third time. Helmick had previously advocated against it. "After looking at the data. I was absolutely amazed at how high the cellular phone [accident rate] was. There is an easy fix for this, and that is requiring equipment that would make it hands-free," Helmick told the Los Angeles Times recently.

The report counted only 913 accidents in 2001 in which police officers across California had cited cell phone use as a cause. Three of those accidents involved fatalities, and 423 caused injuries. However, an L.A. Times analysis of statewide traffic accident data showed that the total would be far higher if it included all accidents in which the driver responsible for the crash was talking on the phone. Officers began collecting these numbers in April 2001, Helmick said, at the urging of the Automobile Club of Southern California. These figures show that at least 4,699 accidents were blamed on drivers using cell phones, and that those accidents killed 31 people and injured 2,786. In addition, these figures were for only nine months of the year. The total number of accidents involving cell phones could be well over 6,000 for the full year.

The CHP he report was sent to Gov. Gray Davis last week for his approval before being released to the Legislature. It was apparently pulled back so that CHP statistics brought to his attention by The Times could be included.

"It's unclear why so many officers did not fill in the appropriate box on their accident reports for cellular-phone distraction when the driver responsible for the crash was using one at the time," says the L.A. Times article. "They may have been discouraged from making that judgment by instructions from the CHP. The activity should be verified by [a] witness, involved party statements, and/or physical evidence before documented as an associated factor [driver distraction in causing an accident]." Read the LA Times article (Free registration required)

Login or sign up to receive email notification
when a comment is added to this thread.

NOTE - You can cancel at any time, and we have a strict privacy policy which forbids us from sharing your email address or other information with any third party.