With spring break fast approaching, students' minds might already be turning to beaches and booze. But UAPD officials warn that when driving around campus in the week ahead, students should keep their minds on the road.

Just last month, a UA student killed a motorcyclist after he failed to yield while making a left turn.

Although no criminal charges were filed against Sean Coll, a journalism senior, he received two civil citations for being in an accident causing death while making a left turn and failing to yield while making a left turn.

Coll refused to comment on the accident.

Percentage-wise, people between the ages of 18 and 24 are involved with more accidents than any other age group.

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Crash Facts for Arizona in 2002, people between the ages of 18 and 24 caused 21 percent of all accidents, even though it made up only about 10 percent of total drivers.

This age group has such a high rate of accidents because of driver inexperience and cell phone and radio distractions, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesman.

Mejia said the most common cause of accidents for any group of drivers is inattention, which he said could lead drivers to run stop signs or run into other cars.

"Whether it's messing with dials or talking on the phone, these things distract you from driving, and driving defensively," he said.

Mejia said he doesn't believe college students are more reckless when driving than any other group of drivers, but he did say young drivers are overly represented in collision statistics.

According to the 2002 ADOT report, driver inattention was the fourth leading cause of accidents, behind speeding, failure to yield and improper driving.

UAPD officer Jason Brei said most major traffic accidents occur on the edge of the UAPD perimeter, especially along Speedway.

Cydney DeModica, spokeswomen for the motor vehicle department of ADOT, said even though it is fourth on the list of causes, inattention might have contributed to accidents in which speeding or failure to yield were listed as the main cause.

Louisa Bifano, a Latin American studies sophomore, said she believes inattention contributes to accidents.

Bifano said she was almost in an accident while her friend was driving, and inattention may have been the cause of the near collision.

"There were three other girls in the car, and everyone was talking," she said.

Noah Pivko, a communication junior, said he doesn't believe inattention is the main cause of accidents.

"It's mostly people not knowing how to drive and bad judgment," he said.

But Brei, who deals with traffic incidents and traffic enforcement, said inattention leads to many of the accidents he sees.

"The driver's thoughts are elsewhere. They're trying to do three things at once," he said.

Brei said traffic violations pick up around finals and around the beginning of the year because students are busier than usual and are thinking of other things.

Brei said to avoid accidents students should stay focused on their driving.

"Be aware of what's around you. Be aware of other drivers," he said.

Drivers often have the attitude of "I need to get there," and this causes them to rush, Brei said.

"We all need to get somewhere, but safety should come first," he said. "You're not going to save that much time by running a stop sign."