It's not newfangled cell phones that cause us to become so distracted while driving that we have a crash. Rather, it's old-fashioned rubbernecking that is our top driving distraction. Cell phones aren't even in the top five.

That's the word from a new study about the cause of traffic accidents conducted by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. More than 2,700 crash scenes and 4,500 drivers were studied in what may be the most comprehensive look ever at how a simple distraction can have such disastrous effects.

"We've known for years that drivers contribute more to causing crashes than the vehicle or the roadway," Robert J. Breitenbach, director of VCU's Transportation Safety Training Center, said in a news release announcing the study. "In many instances the driver error involves not paying attention to the driving task. We can now identify those distractions with some confidence."

The top 15 driving distractions are:

1. Rubbernecking (looking at a crash, vehicle, roadside incident, or traffic): 16 percent
2. Driver fatigue: 12 percent
3. Looking at scenery or landmarks: 10 percent
4. Passenger or child distraction: 9 percent
5. Adjusting radio or changing CD or tape: 7 percent
6. Cell phone: 5 percent
7. Eyes not on the road: 4.5 percent
8. Not paying attention, daydreaming: 4 percent
9. Eating or drinking: 4 percent
10. Adjusting vehicle controls: 4 percent
11. Weather conditions: 2 percent
12. Unknown: 2 percent
13. Insect, animal, or object entering or striking vehicle: 2 percent
14. Document, book, map, directions, or newspaper: 2 percent
15. Medical or emotional impairment: 2 percent

Fascinating facts:

* Fully 62 percent of the crashes involving driver distraction occurred in rural areas.
* Top distractions in rural areas were driver fatigue, insects, animals, and unrestrained pets.
* Top distractions in urban areas were rubbernecking, traffic, other vehicles, and cell phones.

Pay attention out there!