LA County Sheriff's Dept implements new driving policy for deputies

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is taking steps to keep its deputies from distracted driving.

The changes come after a deputy struck and killed cyclist Milton Olin, a prominent entertainment attorney, in December 2013. The collision happened just as the deputy, Andrew Wood, was typing on his in-car computer, responding to a message he received from dispatch.

The sheriff's department is implementing a new distracted driving policy that limits the use of in-car computers while deputies are driving.

The department denies the new policy is directly related to the Olin tragedy but admits the fatal accident started the conversation.

The new policy requires deputies to use their radios as the primary tool for communication instead of their in-car computers as in the past, and it prohibits deputies from using in-car computers for any administrative purposes while driving.