Alan prepares for a ride in VIRTTEX

In a strikingly realistic driving simulator called VIRTTEX at Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, Alan finds out for himself the distraction caused by using a cell phone in a car traveling at high speed on a highway. Alan has to keep an eye on erratic drivers both in front and behind him. Ford researcher Jeff Greenberg has discovered the alarming fact that teenage drivers miss over half these potentially dangerous events while dialing their cell phones — a far worse performance than adults. What's more, the mental distraction cell phones cause — especially when a call comes in — make even hands-free phones not that much safer for adults and teenagers alike.

The VIRTTEX simulator is also being used to study how tiredness affects a driver, and is helping to develop ways to alert the driver to his or her potentially deadly inattention.