Texting Teens Tested On Local Driving Course
POSTED: 4:46 pm EDT May 5,
2008
UPDATED: 7:39 am EDT May 6,
2008
CLEVELAND -- Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Josh Swindell says he's been pulling over more drivers he suspects of driving drunk, only to find they're not drunk at all.Swindell said, "When we stop these individuals they're using electronic devices texting, DVDs, and GPS systems." So with the help of Drive Team and AAA, NewsChannel5 asked local teenage drivers Sarah Ashley and Daniel Blinovich to take a driving test. For the first round, Sarah and Daniel drove the course without text messaging. They both executed the course flawlessly. Then they tried to drive the same course while texting the words "I'm running late." Both struggled, and ended up hitting a number of cones. Blinovich said the obstacle course was harder than texting while driving in a real life situation. "It's a little different then the highway where you can use your knees," he said. But Dennis Burke of AAA said, "You make a mistake on the highway consequences are immediate and dramatic."And Ken Stout with Drive Team said, "To make a mistake at that speed can be serious or fatal, as we know." Both teens told NewsChannel5 that the driving course showed them how distracting texting can be. AAA said up to 40 percent of the most dangerous texting is done when mom or dad check on a teen. According to AAA, teens feel it's urgent to respond when their parents text message them, so they don't wait to get to a safe location. The State of Ohio does not ban the use of driving while using a hand held device.
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