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Distracted driving is an epidemic in San Diego County.

Distracted driving is becoming a major cause of car accidents — and it is an epidemic in San Diego County, where more than 450 people were cited and fined for texting while driving in less than a week.

•  In just six days, police ticketed 470 drivers for cellphone violations — and logged another 556 cases that weren’t ticketed.

•   Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into accidents.  

•   80 percent of vehicle crashes involve some sort of inattention.

•  Texting or talking on a cell phone is the top source of driver inattention.

Lt. David Gilmore, traffic coordinator for the San Diego Sheriff’s department, told KPBS News there’s probably at least one cell phone in every car on the road in San Diego County.

Gilmore equates distracted driving with drunk driving, because “you’re not able to focus on your primary objective, which is to drive down the road and not have a collision.”

Last week in San Diego County, sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers ticketed 467 adults and three juveniles for driving whle texting or talking on their cellphones, according to a Channel 10 News report.

In addition to the drivers who were ticketed, law enforcement officers logged 556 instances of seeing drivers violating laws related to cell phones, but those drivers were not cited because the officers were handling more important business, Gilmore told Channel 10.

That’s more than 1,000 drivers in one week alone — and those are only the ones who were caught.

The minimum fine for talking without a hands-free device, or texting on a cell phone, is $159 for a first offense, Gilmore said. Repeat offenders pay $279.

“Distracted driving is a serious traffic safety concern that puts everyone on the road at risk,” Gilmore said in a written statement. “Several drivers who were contacted remarked that they had seen the public information campaign prior to their traffic stop and subsequent citation.”

Distracted Driving Statistics

According to the state Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into accidents and injure themselves. The state safety agency outlined these basic facts about distracted driving:

• 80 percent of vehicle crashes involve some sort of driver inattention.
• Up to 6000 people nationwide are killed in crashes where driver distractions are involved.
• Talking on a cell phone or texting is the number one source of driver distractions.
• Texting takes your eyes off the road for an average of five seconds, far enough to travel the length of a football field at 55 mph.  Most crashes happen with less than 3 seconds reaction time.
• The act of talking on a cell phone, even hands free, can give you “inattention blindness,” where your brain isn’t seeing what’s right in front of you.  You aren’t even aware that you are driving impaired.

In a statewide OTS survey, almost 46 percent of California drivers admitted to making driving mistakes while talking on a cell phone. More than 60 percent said that they had been hit or nearly hit by other drivers who were talking or texting. (Source: NBC San Diego)

California Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Oil-slicked roads caused several accidents on Highway 18 in Crestline. (Photo: Crestline Courier-News)

Dangerous road conditions caused several spin-outs and two injury accidents Monday afternoon on Highway 18 in Crestline.

•   An oil slick covered several areas in a 5-mile stretchof Highway 18 between Lake Gregory Drive and Panorama Point.  

•   The oil slick caused a vehicle to slide out of control and crash head-on into an oncoming vehicle. One of the drivers suffered major injuries and had to be airlifted via helicopter to a hospital.

•   Another car hit the oil slick and rolled over before crashing into the side of the mountain.

•   Officials closed the highway for five hours to clear the accident scene and clean up the oil slick.

The first car accident occurred around 5:12 p.m., according to an article in the Crestline Courier-News.

The California Highway Patrol said that 29-year-old Jerry Ward of Crestline was driving a 1982 Subaru Brat downhill on Highway 18 when his vehicle hit an oil slick on the road.

The Subaru slid out of control and crossed into the oncoming traffic lane, where it crashed head-on into a 2005 Honda Element driven by 47-year-old Ronald Fuller of Lake Arrowhead.

Ward suffered major injuries. Crest Forest Fire emergency crews responded to the scene and airlifted the victim via helicopter to Loma Linda University Medical Center, about 23 miles away.

Fuller suffered minor injuries. He was treated and released.

The second injury accident happened about 15 minutes later. In that single-vehicle crash, 20-year-old Ardany Alonzo of Twin Peaks drove into the oil slick and lost control of his 1991 Honda Accord, the CHP said. The Honda slid, rolled over, and crashed into the side of the mountain. The car came to rest on its roof.

Alonzo sustained minor injuries. He was treated and released, the CHP said.

CHP officers also saw a number of skid marks in the oil slick area, indicating other accidents had taken place there. The slick was spread along a five-mile stretch of the highway, south of Lake Gregory Drive.

“We suspect something leaked from a vehicle, some sort of a waxy, oily substance that covered several locations of the road and turnouts,” said Caltrans spokesperson Terri Kasinga.

Caltrans officials closed that stretch of the highway for nearly five hours while emergency crews cleared the accident scenes and cleaned the oil slick. They applied absorbent material to the spills and then swept up the material after it soaked up the oil. The highway was reopened at around 10 p.m., the CHP said.

The cause of the oil slick is under investigation.

Dangerous Road Conditions

Road hazards, including oil slicks, can lead to a variety of motor vehicle accidents and injuries. Dangerous road conditions can be caused by:

• potholes, broken or uneven pavement, or cracked or buckling asphalt
• inadequate or improper speed limits based on road design or traffic patterns
• defective, malfunctioning or poorly designed road signs or markings, including lane markers
• poor drainage, resulting in flooding or slippery road surfaces
• lack of warning of steep inclines, sharp curves or blind entrances
• construction debris
• oil slicks and fuel spills

Crestline Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.