After lawyer on bicycle was struck and killed, sheriff's department may limit computer use
In 2012 and 2013, distracted drivers behind the wheel of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks in California injured 140 people and killed three.
One of those killed was entertainment law attorney Milton Everett Olin Jr., who was struck one year ago while bicycling by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who had been focusing on his patrol car computer.
Now, in an effort to reduce such accidents, the sheriff’s department is working on a new policy that would both restrict behind-the-wheel use of computers and increase the use of the police radio to provide information to officers, the Los Angeles Daily News reports in an article reprinted by PoliceOne.com.
“We hope to … address aggressively the issue of distracted driving and return the focus of the drivers back to the motor vehicles,” said Lt. Patrick Hunter, who has a leadership role in the department’s risk management bureau. “We think the deputies will be safer, that they will be better, more defensive drivers, and in the long run, we think it’s safer for the motoring public.”
Currently, the department has a policy that cellphones should not be used “absent extenuating circumstances,” but does not address in-vehicle computers.
See also:
CBS Los Angeles: “Family Of Man Killed In Deputy Crash Will Continue With Lawsuit Despite DA Not Filing Criminal Charges”
