State Sen. Joe Simitian's multi-year effort to make driving safer from distracted cell-phone users has resulted in him being included in a Washington, D.C., "Distracted Driving Summit" this week.

About 200 participants nationwide were invited to the summit, according to Simitian's press secretary, Melissa Figueroa.

The two-day summit Wednesday and Thursday will address how "distracted driving" causes accidents, injuries and deaths and how to cut down on distractions.

Simitian, D-Palo Alto, fought for several years to get a hands-free cell phone bill for driving while phoning.

Simitian's bill to ban text messaging while driving was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last year and went into effect Jan. 1, 2009.

Violators must pay a $20 fine for the first offense and a $50 fine per additional offense, with no violation points on the driving record.

He also proposed earlier legislation to prohibit all drivers under 18 from using any cell phone, laptop, pager and hand-held devices when driving in California.

The summit is online via http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/rita/090830/ .