Driving While Distracted

Supermodel Niki Taylor’s life-threatening injuries from a car crash caused by a ringing cell phone have made actress Eva Marie Saint even more determined to ban cell phones from the nation’s highways and byways.

“Why do we always have to be talking every minute of the day?” Saint asked during a call placed on a land line. “Didn’t we get along without it?”

Saint and her husband, director Jeffrey Hayden, launched their bumper-sticker campaign against chatty drivers last year after they nearly were run off the road in Santa Barbara by a tailgating SUV driver with cell phone to ear. “I just screamed out, ‘Get off the phone or get off the road!’ ” Saint recalled. Thus was a slogan born.

Connecticut Rep. Richard F. Roy, a Democrat from Milford, used Saint’s written testimony to help pass a bill in his state’s House of Representatives. If the Senate approves, Connecticut would be the first state to outlaw drivers from using hand-held cell phones except in emergencies.

Saint admits she carries a cell phone in her car for emergencies or to phone home when she’s running late. It gives her daughter peace of mind. But she never chats while driving.

Taylor remains in critical condition at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital.

Woody on Wheels

Speaking of cell phones, Woody Harrelson rang Tuesday afternoon to report that he was 110 miles away from the end of his 1,500-mile bike ride down the Pacific Coast. We were on foot. We assume that Mr. Organic Living was, too.

But we couldn’t hear above the static. We told Harrelson’s handler we were in the middle of Saks, where we’d gone to scout artwork by Madonna and Britney Spears. Something got lost in the translation.

“They’re saying you’re in the middle of sex?” Harrelson asked, sounding impressed. “I can call back later.” No, no, no! Saks! We’re in the middle of Saks!

“I feel great,” Harrelson said. He then launched into his version of his much-reported San Francisco near-ticket experience: He was riding through Golden Gate Park when a Mr. Ranger-type tried to cite him for a rolling “California stop” at an intersection. He stood up to da man. “I said, ‘You’re going to have to arrest me,’ ” Harrelson recalled. “They would have been hard-pressed to catch me. We ride real fast.”

Harrelson was to end his journey in Santa Barbara late Wednesday, where he planned to deliver a lecture to students on his favorite subject, organic living. He pedaled out of Seattle on April 12.

(The celebrity artwork at Saks, by the way, will be auctioned Friday at the Rock & Soul to Erase MS fund-raiser organized by Nancy Davis.)

Where’s Brando?

Lawyer Robert Shapiro is famous for helping assemble O.J. Simpson’s criminal defense “Dream Team.” Now, he’s hitting bookstores, promoting his legal thriller, “Misconceptions,” co-written with Walt Becker. We tracked down Shapiro to get a lead on former client Christian Brando.

Brando has been linked to Robert Blake’s wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, who was shot to death May 4. Bakley thought Brando was the father of her baby daughter. Turned out it was Blake, who married Bakley about four months ago.

So, do you know where Brando is? we asked Shapiro. “Yes, I have an idea,” he said. “Not precisely. To the best of my knowledge, he has been residing outside the state of California.”

Shapiro couldn’t resist commenting on Blake lawyer Harland Braun’s controversial strategy to focus attention on Bakley’s past. “The strategy in disparaging a victim who is the mother of a child is risky and dangerous,” Shapiro said. “I think that in this case, it seems that the public reaction regarding the victim is not what Braun expected.”

Party, Party, Party

Spotted at USC political science professor Susan Estrich’s rooftop soiree in Santa Monica were Ben Stein, Arianna Huffington, former Gov. Pete Wilson and his wife, Gayle, Ira Reiner and lawyer Bela Lugosi Jr. Estrich is calling herself head of “Democrats for Riordan” these days, trying to persuade Mayor Dick Riordan to run for governor.

At the PlayStation 2 party in Hollywood, Leo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Bill Maher, David Arquette and Crispin Glover came stag. Rod Stewart brought a female entourage, and Ben Stiller came with his wife. Around midnight, Boy George deejayed and hip hop chart-toppers Outkast performed.

Times staff writers Gina Piccalo and Louise Roug contributed to this report.