So You Think You Can Drive and Text?

Send a text. Reach for a pen. Pull out a granola bar. Leave a voicemail.

Elk Grove Police Officer Jason Bolfango gives the commands to Laguna Creek junior Saad Rashid as he maneuvers a white minivan through a series of tight corners marked by cones.

The Elk Grove Police Department on Monday launched its first-ever Distracted Driving Demonstration, a closed-course chance for teens to see the effect texting and other distractions have on their driving ability.

"Apparently I killed two little kids," Saad joked about the cones he hit on his "distracted" run through the course.

The program is funded by a $10,000 Allstate Foundation grant, and the department will produce a video afterward and make it available online and to local schools.

"Hopefully the kids going through this go back and tell their friends," Police Department spokesman Officer Chris Trim said. "It hits home a little better than adults telling you."

Moi Ses Chavez, a senior at Delta High School in Clarksburg, admitted that he and most other teens have texted while driving, but said he stopped when a friend was killed in a distracted driving crash.

"It's not worth it to risk your or other people's lives," he said.

Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis rode in the back of a van piloted by a city employee, and said while his oldest daughter is still several years away from being able to drive, she knows about the dangers of distracted driving.

Also watching Monday's event was Richard Harkness, a psychologist and the founder of Elk Grove-based ADEPT Driver, a company that advocates for teen-driver safety.

He said he'll review in-camera footage from the Elk Grove Police event to further his research; he said studies have shown texting while driving to be more dangerous than driving drunk. Harkness said he'd like to see tougher laws against cell phone use–even hands-free devices–but admits he knows people are torn between its risks and the convenience of calling and texting while on the road.

"It's an accident waiting to happen," Harkness said. "The laws right now are nothing."

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The Elk Grove Police Department's Distracted Driving Demonstration runs through Friday and is still accepting reservations (Monday and Tuesday are fully booked). To sign up your teen, visit www.elkgrovepd.org/ddd.

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