R U Txtng?

As Desmond Parham drives, he goes at a steady pace, but he pauses longer than usual at a stop sign, and doesn't even look at what's in front of him as he begins driving again.

Parham, 16, is too busy looking at the cell phone in his hands, checking a text message and sending a reply.

On Thursday, N.C. Highway Patrol troopers came to Fred T. Foard High School and set up an obstacle course out of orange traffic cones for students to drive through on golf carts. The obstacle course has stop signs and a cul-de-sac end with an island in it.

Students were given the chance to drive once through the course with a trooper to practice. The second time they went through, the trooper talked to them and asks them questions, while a friend sent them a text message they had to reply to.

Some, like Parham, didn't struggle too much with the course. He nudged two cones during his practice round, and hit three while texting.

Parham drives to school every day, and said he texts while driving on a regular basis.

"I text on any road," he said. "This was a little harder because the roads were narrower."

Parham said he managed to read the text his friend sent him, and send a reply to it. However, he said he probably wouldn't text as much as he has been after this.

Others, like Chris Shade, said they have already tried to limit the amount of texting they do while driving, and this experiment made him want to reduce his texting while driving even more.

Shade, 16, also drives to school. He said when he texts, he is usually on open roads.

"I wouldn't do it if I was on a curve," he said. "Lately, I've been stopping. If I get a text, I'll just call them."

Shade said driving with a trooper in the seat next to him was nerve-wracking.

"It was kind of like having your mom with you," he said.

Shade struck two cones while he texted, and made two other cones wobble. He managed to read the text, seeing that someone asked him, "What's your home address?" Shade was able to type in the numbers of his address, but not spell out his street name.

Master Trooper Eric Naylor gave him a hard time, telling him he was pausing too long at the stop sign.

Naylor said that's something teens commonly do when checking text messages — slowing down on thoroughfares or stopping too long at stop signs.

"We're trying to simulate their friends in the car, with the radio on and they're texting," he said. "Just because they get a text, they can't slow down to 40 miles per hour on the highway. That's when you get in an accident."

Troopers in western North Carolina have conducted this program for about a month, primarily in the Winston-Salem area, said Lt. Doug Hayes with the Highway Patrol. He came up with the program and said he wants to get all the high schools in the state to do it by the end of the year.

"It's a simple message. We don't want teens to text and drive," Hayes said. "We're trying to be proactive. This is their culture, it's how they interact. We're going into their schools to show them how dangerous it is."

Sophomore Linda Hefner doesn't have her license yet. When she drove through the course, she knocked over several cones, even dragging one under her tire for part of the course.

"I thought I would do badly," she said. "It's not very safe."

Troopers want the students to think about what they're doing when they drive, said Sgt. Rich Allred.

"Kids are the most inexperienced drivers," he said. "We've done this at six high schools so far. At one school, a student didn't want to finish the course. She just gave us her cell phone and said she didn't want to text and drive anymore."

Foard High School makes the seventh, with more than 1,500 students going through the obstacle course.

Afterward, students are shown a video on texting and driving, to further drive home the consequences. Allred said troopers have received a positive response from the majority of the students who have gone through the program.

Currently, it is illegal for anyone younger than 18 to text or talk on their cell phone while driving unless it is an emergency. On Dec. 1, it will be illegal for everyone to text while driving, punishable by a fine.

Allred admits it can and will be difficult to enforce the no-texting-while-driving law.

"With a serious injury or fatality, you can subpoena cell phone records," he said. "And if you're sitting on the side of the road and see someone go by, you can tell if they're texting."

On the Net:
Don't Text and Drive Blog: http://www.donttextanddrive.blogspot.com/