Mayor Quan: I wasn’t on the phone

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said Monday she was not on her cellphone when she got into a collision with another car on Sunday evening.

Speaking to a large group of reporters outside Oakland City Hall, Quan said she was driving between two community events in West Oakland shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sunday when another car struck the left rear tire of her car.

Quan, who is facing 16 opponents in her re-election bid in the November election, said she will submit her cellphone records to Oakland police to confirm her assertion that she wasn’t on her phone at the time of the collision.

Asked if she ran a red light before the collision, Quan said:

“I don’t believe so but I’ll let the police investigate.”

Quan said she’s “very grateful” that no one was badly hurt in the collision. The mayor said, “I’m a little sore” today but said she’s maintaining her normal schedule. “I assure you that I’m at work today,” Quan said.

Quan said, “I learned my lesson” when two Oakland residents submitted photos to a local television station showing her using her cellphone without a hands-free device while driving.

Quan also acknowledged that she was cited for a “rolling stop” while going through an intersection in Fremont in April 2013.

The mayor said she keeps a busy schedule and is considering using a driver to go to community events instead of driving herself all the time. Previous Oakland mayors, including Quan’s predecessor Ron Dellums, often used drivers to go to city events.

— Jeff Shuttleworth, Bay City News