Altadena Seeing Slight Increase in Traffic Accidents in 2012 So Far

Altadena has seen a slight increase in traffic collisions in the first three months of 2012 and California Highway Patrol officials believe the culprit may be distracted drivers.

Officer Kevin Denmon of the  told the Altadena Town Council on Tuesday that there were 81 traffic collisions in the first three month of 2012 compared to 73 in the same period of 2011.

However, while the CHP made five arrests for drunk driving in Altadena during the first three months of 2011 they have not made any so far in 2012, Denmon said.

That has CHP officials thinking that the collisions have more to do with distracted driving, he said.

"Right now when I look these statistics most of the primary collision factors seems to be people are not paying attention," Denmon said.

He said most of the accidents have involved right of way issues, with drivers turning out in front of other cars or running stop signs.  People appear to be in a hurry in a lot of the collision cases, he said.

CHP officials are also concerned about the distracting effects of cell phone calls, texting, and even legal pursuits like eating while driving, he said.

Statewide, the CHP wrote about 170,000 citations for cell phone violations, and 145,000 in 2010, Denmon said.

In Altadena, there have been no fatalities this year, but there were five injuries from car crashes in March and eight in February, according to CHP statistics.

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