Deadly Distractions Part Three

This week we've shared with you what highway safety officials call a dangerous epidemic: text-messaging while driving.
We've told you the frightening statistics, and we've shown you lives changed by distracted drivers.
Finally, we join young drivers on the road and see how well they perform while texting.

How hard is it to text and drive, and how does it affect your concentration?
To find out, we asked the Tennessee Highway Patrol to set up a winding test-course.

Our drivers: 18 year-old Brandon Dyer and his friend, 19 year-old Brandon Clemons.

Dyer runs the course first... and keeps a steady texting-conversation with his buddy.
But it's a challenging drive.
Dyer says, "it was a little tricky - i mean the curves, everything and then the sharp left. It wasn't the easiest course, especially while texting."
In the end, Dyer passes without bumping a cone, but he's clearly distracted -- notice his eyes constantly looking down, and he rarely goes above 25 miles an hour.

Brandon Clemons had reservations before he even started.
"Yeah - I shouldn't be doing it in the first place. I shouldn't text while driving. It's not the right thing to do."
Clemons chugs through the course, though noticeably less agile than his friend. The ride is jerky and slow, but he also passes without hitting a cone.
That isn't necessarily good news:

"He's looking down quite a bit. He's looking away from the road," says Captain Chip Miller, who was reviewing video taken inside the car.
Even he was surprised by how often the driver's eyes weren't on the road.
"One of the things that comes to mind on this - he's looking down so much, and of course, this is a controlled atmosphere out here - he's not driving that fast. Run at 70mph or something - if something were to happen in front of him real quick, he's not going to be able to react in time."

A valid point -- one we wanted to explore.
We asked the Brentwood Driver Training School to help us create a "real" texting-while-driving experience.
These training vehicles have controls in both seats up front -- instructor Jeremy Lyon can take over the car at any moment.
We gathered several students between 16 and 18 years old.
They shared two things in common -- a willingness to text while driving...
Thomas Dyer says, "I'm actually a really good driver. I don't really have any problems with it - haven't been in a wreck yet. Knock on wood. Just that good, kind of."

Now ready for the test -- we step outside and get the car rolling.
16 year-old Dan Buker is first.
Driving through Brentwood during rush hour is never easy, but Dan is also texting... and driving in a storm.
Dan... had a tough time.
"I'll go one way and look up - correct that - and then i'll go the other way."

He swerved quite a bit...
Six times he crossed over lines... drifted onto the shoulder of the road... and aimed toward oncoming traffic...
At one point, he almost missed an exit ramp...
Dan was happy when his test-drive ended.
"It's hard to read what you're typing - and drive - and keep your speed up -- all at the same time."

17 year-old Liz Bowman had an even harder time.
"I'm kind of scared," she said while driving off.
We counted 17 times where she was dangerously distracted.
She drifted across lanes, almost missed an exit, ran a red light, and was heading toward a near-head-on collision.
Instructor Jeremy Lyon even had to hit the brakes several times.
"It does definitely take my focus off the road," says Liz.
Jeremy Lyon says, "After being with them and doing this today, it makes me wonder as I'm driving down the road who might be texting and crossing the line coming at me."

Distraction isn't even the worst thing we saw...
18 year-old Thomas Dyer demonstrated how he uses his knees to drive and text.
Thomas Dyer says, "It's hard to text with one hand, so focusing on texting, you have to use the knees."
His focus... obviously... wasn't on the road.
Thomas Dyer says, "I don't even hardly remember my drive since I was texting the whole time."

Our final drive is with 17 year-old Kelsey Sawyer.
It's getting dark... the rain is heavy... there are a few bumps, and some harrowing moments.

When our day ended, we sat down with instructor Jeremy Lyon, and Holly Bowman -- Liz's mother.
Jeremy Lyon says, "This might be the most dangerous thing other than drinking and driving because you're using your eyes - and you're not talking on the phone - you're looking at the phone."
Holly Bowman says, "I am very terrified now to put my daughter alone in her own car knowing the text messaging problem."

Driving instructor Jeremy Lyon says the time he spent driving with these kids gave him plenty to think about...
He says he plans on making driver-distraction a *big* part of future driving courses at his school.Deadly Distractions Part Three