Cell Phone Use by Motorists Under Scrutiny

One hand on the steering wheel, the other clutching a cell phone? One eye peeled for traffic and the other on the dial pad?

The Southern California habit of cell-phoning from the road has long irritated those who say distracted drivers are the cause of numerous near-misses and collisions.

Now, emboldened by a growing movement aimed at curbing cell phone use by motorists, a Santa Monica councilman has proposed outlawing it within the city limits. Tuesday night, Councilman Paul Rosenstein asked that the city study the impact of such a prohibition.

All over the city, every day, he said in an interview, drivers with phones to their ears can be seen weaving erratically in traffic, slowing for no apparent reason or executing bizarre maneuvers at street corners.

“I get really irritated and frustrated by this,” said Rosenstein, who admits to having used a cell phone while driving. “It’s happening more and more. People just aren’t paying attention.” Rosenstein, who said he might consider expanding the proposed ban to cover other diversions such as shaving, faxing and applying makeup, said he was following the lead of two cities that had recently imposed cell phone bans: Brooklyn, Ohio, and Hilltown, Pa.

Rosenstein’s proposal has sparked lobbying by opponents since it was announced. Steve Carlson, executive director of the Cellular Carriers Assn. of California, a lobbying group for cellular telephone companies, said the benefits of cell phone use in cars outweigh the drawbacks. Laws already allow police to cite drivers who aren’t paying attention to the road, whether they are using a phone, fumbling with a CD, drinking coffee or eating a cheeseburger, he said.

“I think it’s well-intentioned, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Carlson said. “You don’t need another law to keep some jerk from weaving around in traffic. There already are laws for that.”

The use of cell phones by drivers has been banned or restricted in Australia, England, Israel, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. These nations have drawn a clear connection between cell phone use and car accidents, but the auto insurance industry in the United States says no comprehensive study has been done here. One reason is that auto insurers say they need access to telephone billing records to conduct a study, but telephone companies say that would violate their customers’ privacy.

“We’d love to see a study done here,” said Julie Rochman, spokeswoman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “But the telephone companies won’t cooperate with us.”

A Canadian study done in 1997 concluded that the use of cellular telephones in cars quadrupled the risk of an accident, even among drivers who used so-called “hands-free” phones. However, the study said that efforts to regulate the use of telephones in automobiles must also consider their benefits--such as the ability to call for an ambulance after an accident.

The California Highway Patrol has recognized benefits as well, and says it has not taken an official position on the issue. Anne DaVigo, a CHP spokeswoman, said drivers often have used phones to report drunken drivers, accidents and stranded motorists. DaVigo said the CHP advises drivers to pull over if they are going to be talking for a long time or if the conversation will be emotional.

Rochman said that any distraction in the car should be avoided. The problem is that most people think they’re the exception to the rule, she said.

“People know that they shouldn’t be talking on the phone when they’re driving, but they do it because they think they are different and they can handle it,” she said