Cell Phone Suspected of Causing Crash

A cell phone appears to have caused a woman driving toward an intersection to collide with a traffic signal in Palm Desert on Jan. 29.

The crash was reported at 4:10 p.m.

Palm Desert Police officials said the motorist was reaching for her cell phone when she realized that she was approaching traffic that was stopped for a red light at Portola Avenue and Via Venezia.

She reportedly swerved to avoid hitting the other vehicles, lost control and struck the traffic signal. The woman was not seriously injured. And the public works department was notified and the traffic signal at this intersection was scheduled to be repaired quickly.