MythBusters (2003) s15e10 Episode Script
Dangerous Driving
[ Siren wailing .]
- Usual wager? - Sure.
The, uh, loser cleans the shop, right? - Yeah.
- Okay.
Counting it in, I'm ready.
3, 2 [ Tires squeal .]
- 1.
- Hey, wait a second.
Here we go.
[ Cell phone ringing .]
Oh.
[ Beep .]
- Hello? Oh, hi, mom.
Ah! No, no.
Not you.
Not you.
So, it Hold on hold on.
Mom, it's not really the best time for me to talk.
[ Sheep bleat .]
[ Tires squeal .]
Saturday? Sure.
Oh, mom, hold on.
Mom, hold on.
Mom, I got to go.
I got to go.
Okay.
I'll talk to you later.
[ Beep .]
[ Explosion .]
Ahh! I lost.
You were looking a little distracted there.
Yeah, but I did pretty good in reverse.
Uh, all right.
- [ Laughs .]
all right, sir.
Time to get your racing gloves on.
We have an entire episode that puts the word "dangerous" into the phrase "dangerous driving.
" Like what? Well, we've got a Hollywood car chase story to tackle, that driving at high speed through traffic, evading your enemies in reverse, is easy.
But first up, we have a story all about the dangers of driving while talking on your cell phone.
Oh, there's a law against that, at least as far as holding it in your hand.
Exactly, but what is the solution for someone who wants to talk on their phone? - Hands-free? - Hello? Yup, but there's a myth that there is no improvement in safety talking hands-free versus holding on to your phone, that they both distract you just as much.
And I think we should test that.
Absolutely.
Narrator: Talking on a handheld phone leaves a driver both mentally and physically compromised.
Going hands-free does eliminate half the problem.
But with the other half still there, some say that it's just as dangerous.
[ Tires squeal, glass shatters .]
- Hey! Hey! Hey! - Hey! Hey! Hey! Narrator: To find out, the "Mythbusters" crew have constructed a classified course designed by drive expert Dave Storton.
So the first section here is a slalom.
So that's gonna test their steering ability while talking on the phone.
Narrator: Right now Adam and Jamie are being deliberately kept in the dark.
Storton: Coming out of the slalom, they'll immediately have to get on the brakes for a low-speed exercise called the offset lane.
Narrator: Because any pre-existing knowledge of the route could discredit their data.
Storton: Once through that, we head over to what's called a t-box.
Narrator: Instead, all they know is that they must stick to the speed limits and not clip any cones if they're to achieve a perfect score.
Right.
If you bolt the two together, maybe some sticky tape in the middle, and that should totally Okay.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
I got a thing to do.
Okay, wait right there.
Okay, so while we know that driving in a car while holding on to a cell phone and talking is bad Sorry, that wasn't for you.
The myth is that driving hands-free is just as bad, that there is no difference between hands-full and hands-free.
And we are just about to test it on the course behind me.
I can see it from a distance, but that's as close as I'm gonna get because my ignorance of this course is intrinsic to our test.
Narrator: Like Adam, Jamie's also going that extra mile to make sure their science is sound.
Adam's gonna run this test twice, first, with phone held in his hand, and then, secondly, hands-free.
Then, I'm also gonna run the test twice.
But I'm gonna do it in the inverse order.
The idea here is that we're gonna be able to remove any bias as far as learning, and getting better every time we do the test.
Narrator: Indeed.
And while Adam warms up in the test car Breaker, breaker.
We got a, uh, 5-5-5 on an m.
P.
B.
I'll take care of it.
Narrator: Jamie sits down in mission control.
All right, I've got my questions, I've got my phone.
We'll see what we can do to mess with Adam's world.
- Hello, sir.
- Hello.
Narrator: With Dave riding shotgun to mark Adam's moves, it's time to hold the phone.
[ Cell phone rings .]
- Hello.
- Hello, Adam.
I've got my questions ready for you and we're good to go.
3, 2, 1, here we go.
Okay, so, if you could compete with the Olympics, what event would you want to be in? Um, if I can compete in the Olympics, I would, uh, hold on a second.
There we go.
Hold on, sorry, um, I think I would do the luge because it requires, I think, the least amount of physical, uh, acuity.
Okay.
That's great.
Now, uh, I need you to add the first two given numbers and then add the next number to the last number given.
Okay.
8 and 7.
Um, 8 and 7 equals 15.
Okay, 3.
Uh, 10.
Excellent.
Okay.
For the next test, I'm going to read you a list of words and ask you to repeat them in reverse order.
Hold on a second.
Now, this is what you might be wondering about the complexity of the questions we are asking each other while driving.
Flamethrower.
Fire hydrant.
Water.
Why aren't we just reading "war and peace" over the phone? Water.
Fire hydrant.
Flamethrower.
Well, each of our questions falls into a category that activates the cognitive portions of the brain.
General knowledge Which country has the longest coastline? Uh, the longest coastline of any country.
China? All require the driver to use the part of their brain to listen at the same time as they're trying to use another part of their brain to drive.
Narrator: Adam isn't being judged on how well he answers the questions.
Add 1 and 7.
Uh, hold on.
[ Laughs .]
This is Narrator: It's how well he's driving that's the only metric.
Oh! Whoa, whoa.
Narrator: And the answer to that is not very well.
Um, hold on.
Sorry.
Narrator: The combination of one hand on the wheel and a brain that's multitasking into meltdown means that, by the end of the test, Adam's flunked with flying colors.
Jamie, I'm done.
That was awful.
[ Laughs .]
[ Laughs .]
Well, uh, let's reset and see whether you're still a menace on the next one.
All right.
[ Engine sputtering .]
- Okay.
Um, [Bleep.]
.
Well, I've completed my first test, and talking on the phone was absolutely awful.
And then, the car stopped working.
So we are actually going to transfer all of the cameras and microphones from inside this car to one of our production vehicles.
And I'm gonna run the test a second time, hands-free.
I mean, we still consider my first test valid, just have to do the second one in a different car.
Narrator: So, while the team pushes on, what else is on the docket? So driving in reverse.
Paint me a picture.
Well, look, our hero, let's say, is driving down a one way street.
He thinks he's home free, but blocking his path is a villain in a car.
He's got nowhere to go, so using the only Avenue open to him, the hero throws the car into reverse and backs up, bobbing and weaving through traffic at high speed to eventually evade his chaser.
And you wanna know if this is possible.
I totally do.
We've been trained to drive in a lot of different ways over the years, but backwards isn't one of them.
And it involves a lot of different skills, not only driving ability and spatial awareness but also, really, proprioception.
Yeah, yeah.
- Let's get to driving.
- Okay.
Beautiful day.
Wide-open, empty runway.
The conditions are perfect.
Oh, wait.
We need a car.
[ Tires squeal .]
You ordered a car? Indeed I did, sir.
Perfect timing.
- [ Laughs .]
You know, the movies are packed with people who can drive well, but they would lead you to believe that you could drive forward or reverse, however you choose.
We are constantly seeing our movie heroes racing away from the bad guys, avoiding obstacles, and driving all over the place with the rear end of the car facing the direction that they are actually going.
Narrator: But before trying out any twists or turns And That's a quarter mile.
Narrator: The guys first want to know if cars can even reverse Hollywood-fast in real life.
And for that, they're hitting the straightaway.
We've set up a course that's measured.
And we're gonna test out these cars, see how fast they go in forward and compare that to how fast they go in reverse.
All right, Mr.
Hyneman, are you ready? I'm good to go.
All right, commence quarter-mile test in 3, 2, 1 Go.
[ Tires squeal .]
Here it comes.
80 per hour.
Narrator: It's a good start for their converted cab.
But how will that speed compare when it's back-to-front? Most cars that you're ever gonna run into have only one reverse gear, which means that the top speed of your car in reverse is ultimately limited by the reverse gearing and the speed at which the engine is turning over.
Now, will our car be able to go as fast as they seem to go in the movies? That is just what we're about to find out.
Okay, commence backwards quarter mile in 3, 2, 1 Go.
Narrator: Jamie's off.
But from the get-go, it's clear that he's less "fast and furious" and more "driving miss Daisy.
" But that's because he's using this run to get his eye in.
31 miles per hour.
I think he can do better.
I think he's got more.
Narrator: Yup, it's test two, where the rubber will meet the road.
Okay, Adam, I'm in place and ready to go in reverse.
Narrator: As Jamie, this time, plans to put the pedal to the metal.
All right, Mr.
Hyneman, in 3, 2, 1 Go.
49, 50, 52, 53.
54 miles per hour.
Narrator: Now, that's more like it.
Reaching freeway speeds is more than a match for a Hollywood hero, but it's not all good news.
The trick with driving at high speed in reverse was to not do very much, just kind of hold still and try and keep the car in a straight line.
But unfortunately, we're not going to have that option now because, now we've got to drive through a slalom in reverse.
And that's all about steering.
That's gonna be really hard.
Narrator: Still to come Bye, cop.
Narrator: Backup bologna gets a movie makeover.
Yeah! - Narrator: And - Hello.
Hands-free goes high-tech.
Ahh! [ Laughs .]
Narrator: Is driving at speed in reverse as easy as the movies make out? [ Tires squeal .]
Well, not if Adam's straight line test Jamie: Coming up fast.
Narrator: Is anything to go by.
Adam: Ahh! [ Tires squeal .]
Whoa! There are a couple reasons that cars are difficult to drive at high speed in reverse.
[ Laughs .]
Hey.
Yeah, you started to lose it at about 50.
Yeah, man.
Jamie: And the first is that the steering is not self-centering.
If you let go of the wheel of a car going forward for just a second, it'll tend to self-correct because of the offset of the wheels.
If you're going in reverse, it does the opposite.
If you let go of that wheel, you're gonna go hard to the side, and you're gonna do a 180, and that's dangerous.
And correct a little too much, you're gonna lose it.
The other thing is that it's all about perspective.
When you're going forwards, with your head in align with the steering wheel, driving's really intuitive.
But in reverse, you're either looking into the mirror or over your shoulder, meaning your brain's having to make complex decisions from a viewpoint that it's just not used to.
[ Tires squeal .]
And so, when things go wrong, you're gonna flip the car or something bad.
Narrator: Given their struggles on the straightaway, today's test looks terrifying.
This is what we call the "diving in at the deep end" test.
We've got a course that's full of the kind of challenges a Hollywood hero has to face, and we're going to see if we can reverse through it at high speeds without crashing.
[ Laughs .]
This is why we have insurance.
Narrator: It's a course that a movie maestro would finish in a flash.
But how will the Mythbusters manage? All right.
First run in 3, 2, 1 Go.
Narrator: Adam's off.
And from the outset, he's ignoring the mirrors Whoa.
Oh, there goes a cone.
Narrator: And going with the over-the-shoulder technique.
Ah, [Bleep.]
! Narrator: But it's hardly paying dividends.
Because not only poor steering cripple his cone count Ah.
Narrator: But his slow speed means his time is terrible.
[ Laughs .]
How did I do? 1 minute 7 seconds.
1 minute, 7 seconds? I'll tell you what that does.
It wreaks havoc on my neck.
Well, I-i had a couple of screwups on that one.
It's very hard to gauge how hard you need to hit a turn in reverse because all of your metrics for reaction, in terms of how the car moves, are way off-kilter.
It's a far more sensitive device in reverse.
Narrator: Indeed, but can Jamie master the method and reverse this myth's fortunes? [ Engine starts .]
All right, cowboy.
Here we go in 3, 2, 1 Go.
[ Tires squeal .]
[ Laughs .]
I love that this is our job.
Narrator: Unlike Adam, Jamie's using the mirrors and the over-the-shoulder system.
But it's not a winning combination [ Tires squeal .]
[ Laughing .]
[ Shifts gears .]
Narrator: Because his crash course is even worse than Adam's.
But eventually, he crawls to the finish line in a sluggish 72 seconds [ Tires screech .]
[ Laughs .]
[ Groans .]
Narrator: Which is not good news for the myth.
Okay, you win.
- [ Laughs .]
Narrator: But all is not lost.
Look, there is no doubt that this test was hard.
Ah! The course was difficult, and we are at the novice end of the reverse driving spectrum.
But with some expert training, will we be able to bring this myth back from the brink? That's what's next.
Narrator: Actually, not quite.
Because next, the guys are jumping ship back to Alameda to find out if hands-free is as distracting as holding the phone.
[ Cell phone rings .]
Uh, hello, Jamie.
Narrator: Adam started with a hands-full control Oh, whoa.
Whoa.
Narrator: That went so badly Right.
Narrator: His car refused to continue.
Okay.
- [ Engine sputters .]
Narrator: So it's out with the old.
All right, Dave.
Let's do it.
Narrator: And in with the new.
But will going hands-free really be just as bad? [ Line ringing .]
Here we go.
[ Beep .]
Why, hello, this is Adam.
Well, hello there, Adam.
Should I start driving? - Yes.
Go ahead.
- Okay.
Narrator: Like last time, Adam must complete the course while answering questions both easy Okay, on which continent is the Sahara desert? The Sahara desert is on the African continent.
Narrator: And hard.
If buster walks halfway around a circle and then turns around and walks halfway back, is he now back where he started? Yes, he is.
No, he's halfway back.
[ Laughs .]
- Ah.
Okay.
Narrator: But despite the obvious burden on his brain, his driving has got better.
And although a clipped cone sees him marked down [ Laughing .]
- [ Laughs .]
Sorry.
I just hit something.
Narrator: His final score has improved, but was it due to the phone? Adam: Well, I've completed my hands-free run of our driving course, and I did it a lot better.
But here's the thing, I found taking the questions from Jamie just as distracting as I did the first time.
I feel like my better performance on the second test could be chalked up to just understanding the course a little bit better.
But that's why Jamie's gonna start hands-free and then go to hands-full.
If that is in effect, we should cancel it out by changing the order that we do the test in.
That's the theory, anyway.
Want to see what you can do with it.
I'm gonna suck.
I can tell you already.
Narrator: Not only will Jamie increase their sample size, but by going hands-free first Jamie and I almost never actually speak on the phone.
So this actually has a bit of novelty to me.
Narrator: The guys are trying to eliminate any course-learning bias.
[ Line ringing .]
This is Jamie.
Ah, good afternoon, Jamie.
It's Adam.
Go ahead and start driving, and I'm going to start asking you some questions.
Narrator: Adam starts with a simple icebreaker.
All right, hey, Jamie, if you could wake up tomorrow and gain any single quality or ability, what would it be and why? Um, I could fly.
Why? Narrator: But even that proves too much for Jamie.
Well, uh, because then I could go, um What was the question again? Why would you like to fly? Uh, well, because, that would, uh, it would save a lot of gasoline actually.
And, uh, you know, I could, uh, oh, look at that.
I bumped over a whole bunch of things.
[ Laughs .]
Narrator: With no improvement over the rest of the course I'd like you to add the numbers 4 and 7.
Let's see.
Uh, 4 and 7, uh Uh Ticktock, grandpa.
10 or, no, 11.
Narrator: Jamie scores the worst result of the day A disappointing 66.
That was awesome.
He starts every answer with, "let's see.
" [ Laughs .]
I'm sure I was doing the same things, but it's just very enjoyable to listen to someone so distracted.
Narrator: A quick reset later, [ cell phone rings .]
And they're set for the fourth and final run Hello.
All right.
Start your driving.
Narrator: Jamie, hands-full.
I'm going to read you a list of words and ask you to repeat them in a reverse order.
Crash, burn, demolish.
Uh, demolish, uh, burn, crash.
E.
M.
T.
, ambulance, doctor.
There's quite a narrative implied by these.
- Doctor, ambulance, e.
M.
T.
- Yes.
Narrator: Despite having only one hand on the wheel and swapping the phone mid-drive, Jamie scores 72, a fail by some distance, but an improvement nonetheless.
So, what does this mean for the myth? Okay, now, for this myth to be true, Jamie's hands-free score had to match his hands-full score.
And so did mine.
But that didn't quite happen.
Graphics, help me out.
You can see that I drove better hands-free, while Jamie drove better hands-full.
But that data also shows that we both improved on our second runs because we had experience of the course.
Now, if we remove that bias by averaging Jamie's and my data, what do we get? Beautiful, near-identical scores for each of the two techniques.
But we are not done yet, for two particular reasons.
One, our course isn't very real-world.
For starters, there's no traffic.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, is Jamie's and my driving abilities.
We have both received tons of training over the years in lots of different driving techniques.
Whoa! Whoo, yeah! We are quite far from your average Joes, and that is what we need next.
Aah! 3, 2, 1 Go.
[ Tires squeal .]
Adam: Now, Jamie and I have already gone pretty far, teaching ourselves the rudiments of driving in reverse.
[ Tires squeal .]
[ Laughs .]
But if we're gonna get really good at this, we're gonna need to get trained by an expert.
Luckily, we have an expert in reverse tactical driving right here.
Hello, sir.
Hello.
Jamie: Brian Frazer is a trainer at the emergency vehicle operations course here in California.
Now, we've used him repeatedly over past years, whenever we've had to learn how to deal with a particularly difficult driving situation.
And driving at speed in reverse certainly qualifies.
All right, Brian.
Where do we start? We're going to put barrel here, two barrels here, one on each side of the car.
All right.
Narrator: Brian's first job is to ignore the current course Right there is good.
Good.
Good ending point.
Aw.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Narrator: And set up something way more straightforward All right, that's the course.
Now what do we do? - Drive it.
- Okay.
Let's go.
Narrator: Because the technique he's going to teach is surprisingly simple.
So I'm gonna change my seating position now - a little bit.
- Okay.
I'm going to prop myself up, loosen my seat belt.
Turn yourself as far as you can around.
Get your body almost in the center of the of the car.
Okay.
I'm gonna steer the car now with one hand.
But this hand will never leave the steering wheel.
Not you're not gonna let the steering wheel shift in your hand to lock.
You're you're palming the wheel the entire time.
I see.
Okay, cool.
Narrator: And believe it or not, that's apparently all there is to it.
3, 2, 1 Go.
Narrator: By shifting his body to the center of the car [ Laughs .]
Oh, wow! Narrator: And keeping one hand on the wheel at all times Wow, I can't believe how fast you're able to do this.
Narrator: Brian speeds through the course at an impressive 41 miles per hour.
That is amazing.
Adam: So Brian just showed me that something I thought was impossible is in fact, totally possible.
So I'm about to give that a shot.
This is gonna be cool.
Narrator: Like Brian, Adam slides to the center to give a viewpoint that's easier to process.
- Oh, look at that.
- Yeah.
Okay, so.
All right.
3, 2, 1 Narrator: And like Brian, he then nails the course.
Oh, that's so cool.
Narrator: To check it wasn't just beginner's luck, he tries again and goes even faster.
Awesome.
Jamie: I got to say, this is amazing.
When we got here this morning, I thought Adam was gonna be training for four, five, maybe six hours.
But it's not been like that at all.
Instead, in just 20 minutes, he's gone from being pretty average to being pretty great.
And it seems to be all down to the central head position, which seems to be letting Adam's brain process the direction to turn much more accurately.
So, we're gonna put him back on our original course to see how he does now.
Should be interesting.
Narrator: It's the course the guys couldn't crack.
So, you ready to put what you learned into practice? I am.
In fact, I can't wait to try this course now.
3, 2, 1 Go.
Narrator: But will his 20 minutes of training let Adam turn it around? He's off to a good start.
Turns are a lot smoother this time.
He's looking really good.
Yeah! Well, yeah.
He's moving pretty quick.
Coming in good.
Yeah! Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me.
Tell me, tell me how I did.
57.
25.
Boom! That was cool.
Narrator: It's close to an astounding result.
With just two minor modifications Adam: Yeah! Narrator: Adam's bettered his best by over 15%.
All right, guess it's time to bring on the next event.
[ Tires squeal .]
Narrator: And what that means is, it's time for some real-life movie mayhem.
But first Hold the phone Because, in driving distracted, neither Adam nor Jamie could drive safely while talking hands-free.
But now, in a location way more sophisticated [ Laughs .]
It's locked.
Narrator: It's time to up the ante.
Jamie and I have realized we need much more controlled, scientific and realistic conditions, which is why we've come here to enlist the help of the experts at the Stanford university automotive innovation facility.
When we asked for their help in getting more realistic, they showed us a virtual world.
Come here.
This is their state-of-the-art driving simulator.
It is awesome.
From the front seat of this car, you are completely immersed in a world controlled and designed by a computer, into which we can add all sorts of traffic, pedestrians, obstacles, and surprises for all of our test subjects, that's right, many, many test subjects, while we get to the bottom of this myth.
Narrator: It's a multi-million dollar machine All right, then.
Going for a drive in the simulator.
Narrator: Which Jamie can't resist turning up to 11.
[ Strained voice .]
Okay, here we go.
[ Laughs .]
[ Horn honks .]
I'm gonna go the other way.
Whoa.
This is crazy.
Ah [ imitates crash sound .]
[ Laughs .]
Crazy driving aside, this driving simulator is actually very good.
Yeah, get out of my way.
[ Laughs .]
[ Horn honking .]
The way the screen wraps around, the visuals are convincing enough that you have to remind yourself that this isn't a real driving scenario.
He's doing, like, 95.
Interesting.
I'll see how he likes this.
[ Horn blares .]
In fact, it's so good that I was starting to get a little carsick.
So I think, as far as testing distracted driving, it's as good a simulation as we're going to get.
Narrator: As well as the freeway [ Laughing .]
Narrator: There's also a detailed cityscape [ Laughs .]
Oh, I guess I better put it in reverse.
Narrator: So that all driving environments are tested.
[ Jamie laughs .]
Narrator: The 30 volunteer drivers will be judged on whether they pay attention to the GPS instructions Automated male voice: At the next intersection, turn left.
Narrator: And whether or not they crash.
[ Tires squeal .]
Ah! Narrator: But that's not the only data, because drivers will also wear the latest in eye-tracking technology.
This eye-tracking system records precisely where and how long I'm looking at something.
Now, that's gonna give us hard data as to the level of distraction that I'm experiencing while I'm driving.
Narrator: With eagle-eyed Jamie all wired up, he's going to be the first data of the day All right.
Calling him now.
[ Cell phone ringing .]
Narrator: Starting after the break.
Hello? Narrator: Using a phone on the road is bad news, but is going hands-free just as foolish? To find out, the Mythbusters have a simulator that's second to none [ Laughs .]
I love this thing.
All right.
Calling him now.
Narrator: And a Hyneman that's got his hands full.
Hello? Good morning, Mr.
Hyneman.
Are you ready to start this test? - I'm ready.
- Okay.
Kick the car into drive, start driving, and I'll start asking you some questions.
Narrator: The questions are similar to those posed before.
Did you play a musical instrument as a child, Jamie? Yeah, I had a-a tuba in the bathroom right next to the toilet that I would play when I was, you know, doing number two or something.
[ Laughs .]
Narrator: But what's interesting is that, on the freeway Speed, underwater, camera.
Narrator: Jamie's driving Hold on.
You know, somebody just pulled in front of me.
Narrator: And answers Camera, underwater, speed.
Narrator: Are surprisingly solid.
In fact, it's only when he hits the streets 12 and 7.
Narrator: That he starts to waver.
Okay, uh, let's see.
Uh, 19.
Narrator: With so many distractions, it's no surprise when Jamie takes a turn for the worse.
Automated male voice: At the next intersection, turn left.
[ Signal clicking .]
Jamie, you have taken a wrong turn, and that means that the test is over.
You have failed.
Okay.
Narrator: With no rest for the wicked, Jamie immediately moves on to the hands-free test.
Hello.
What is the longest running race in the olympic games called? The longest running race in, uh, in the olympic game is called a maradon.
- A maradon? - Maradon.
- You mean marathon? - Yeah.
Okay.
Narrator: Once again, Jamie's focused on the freeway but struggles in the city as his brain tries to process the traffic and the conversation.
The earth is located in what galaxy? Uh, the, um You know, I don't know the answer to that question.
Narrator: Like last time Automated male voice: At the next intersection, turn left.
Narrator: Jamie doesn't crash, but he does ignore the GPS Oh, I'm sorry.
I screwed this up.
Narrator: Meaning he's failed again.
Well, the long and the short of it is that Jamie has done this test twice in our virtual environment, once holding the phone, once hands-free, and he has failed both times.
It's looking pretty good for this myth, but we are not leaving it here.
No, no, no.
We're going to funnel a whole bunch of volunteers through this testing procedure to get some real numbers to back up our potential conclusion.
Narrator: First of the 30 volunteers is Tiffany, who will be driving hands-full.
The first thing I want to know is what musical instrument you played as a child.
None.
Narrator: On the freeway, her driving is solid Logic questions.
Narrator: And her answers are perfect.
Name four days that start with the letter "t.
" Today, tomorrow, Tuesday, and Thursday.
Excellent.
Narrator: But moments after hitting the city How much dirt is Oh, we just ran down a cyclist.
This test is over.
[ Line ringing .]
Narrator: Next up is Michael.
Hello? Narrator: And, hands-free, he's fine on the freeway What is something you have at home that you should throw away, but you can't? Ah, my old computer.
I still have one that got built in, like, '95.
Narrator: But deadly downtown.
Um, which country [ Tires squeal .]
Oh! Ahh.
I-I believe that might be the end of our test there, Michael.
Where did that come from? [ Laughs .]
Thank you very much, sir.
[ Bleep .]
Narrator: When the next four volunteers also crash and burn Ah! Narrator: It's looking good for the myth.
Stop the car and, please, license and registration, ma'am.
Narrator: And although driver seven does make it through the course intact All right, uh, congratulations.
You have successfully completed the test.
Narrator: Nearly all other drivers, whatever their phone fashion, either get lost Uh, Ron, I'm sorry to inform you that you have now missed a turn.
And thus, the test is over.
Narrator: Or worse.
Oh, we had a crash, didn't we? Narrator: Undeterred, the guys plow on through two full days of testing.
And when volunteer 30 takes dramatic evasive action [ Laughs .]
I suck at this.
Narrator: The guys have all the data they could hope for.
All right, we have run a lot of volunteers through this experiment, and we've got a lot of data to take a look at.
So it's time to leave this virtual world, drive through the real world, back to our shop, and crunch the numbers.
No way.
They said that? That is hilarious.
Hold on just a second.
What? We were waiting for the results on distracted driving.
Oh, okay.
Uh, I got to call you back.
[ Beep .]
- Yes, we have results.
We tested 30 drivers out in Stanford, 15 hands-full, 15 hands-free.
Here is the result.
Uh, hands-full one passed, five failed by driving the wrong way, nine failed by crashing.
Hands-free one passed, six failed by getting lost, and eight failed by crashing.
What's that mean statistically? Statistically, it means no difference.
And what about eye tracking? The eye tracker was very interesting.
Across all 30 drivers, the amount of time they spent looking at something other than the road was identical between hands-free and hands-full.
Well, there you have it.
[ Cell phone beeps .]
Don't use your cell phone while you're driving.
Yeah, I'm done.
Okay.
So, where do you want to meet for lunch? Absolutely.
Narrator: Coming right up, the guys rev in reverse Yeah! Narrator: For a confounding conclusion.
[ Tires squeal .]
Ah! Narrator: In driving in reverse, there's a problem.
We we can't catch a break today.
We just rolled up the windows 'cause the wind's so diabolical, and we locked the keys inside.
[ Laughs .]
Narrator: Luckily, for once, there's a cop around when you need him.
- Hey! - Bingo.
[ Laughs .]
Mythbusters, repossessing cars since 1979.
[ Tires squeal .]
It's all about reverse driving in this episode, and how easy it is versus how easy Hollywood makes it seem.
Whoa! Jamie and I have tried out some courses ourselves.
[ Tires squeal .]
[ Laughs .]
We've been trained by a cop who is an expert in driving in reverse.
Here we go.
3, 2 - The reverse.
- Oh.
There we go.
Thank you.
[ Laughs .]
So now, it's time for me to take all of the skills I've thus far learned and put them to a real test.
I'm here at an abandoned neighborhood in Marina, California, where my crew has set up a course, and I'm just supposed to drive as fast as I can in reverse.
I'm actually pretty curious how this is gonna turn out.
Narrator: This final farewell is a half mile of twists and turns.
But it's got a whole lot more besides As the guys have put the movie mayhem back into this myth.
And that's not just the props.
We're gonna put a little pressure on Adam, because I'm gonna be in a cop car on his ass the whole way, with the sole exception that, when he sees me and takes off, I'm gonna be outside my car.
So he's gonna have just a little bit of a head start.
Narrator: Adam's goal, like the classic Hollywood hero, is to make it to the finish line before those pesky police.
That is a cop.
That's bad.
Narrator: But with reverse gear his only option, will he escape to victory? Here we go.
Bye, cop.
[ Tires squeal .]
Narrator: The chase is on.
Here we go.
Gettin' the heck outta here.
Narrator: And by the time Jamie's got going, Adam's already out of sight.
Make a right-hand turn here.
Don't let go of that wheel.
Narrator: By shifting to the central position, he's able to navigate with skill.
Whoa.
Flaming car! Dude.
Oh, man.
Post-apocalypse.
Narrator: At least, when he wants to.
I want those boxes.
Come on.
Yeah! Narrator: But while his steering is supreme I don't know where he is.
I hope he's not close.
Narrator: His speed, while fast, is no match for Jamie.
Oh, fruit stand.
I'm not gonna miss the fruit stand.
Whoa! Aah.
Oh! [ Laughs .]
Narrator: Adam may be down, but he's not out, as he reverses back uphill Ah, I'm going still! Narrator: A strategy that the Hyneman then copies.
With both drivers now revving in reverse, it's a case of who's gonna blink first.
[ Tires squeal .]
Oh! [ Laughs .]
Oh.
Yet another in the long line of things that we should just set up for the public and charge money for.
That was awesome.
Step out of the car with your hands up.
Okay.
[ Laughs .]
That was so much fun.
[ Laughs .]
Oh, my god.
That was the best thing ever.
Well, that went pretty much as good as I could have imagined.
First off, the course was amazing, full of all sorts of really interesting obstacles, from fruit stands to dudes fixing their cars to, come on, a flaming car.
I also was able to go through it really fast, I mean, fast enough where I almost lost control of the car on a couple of the straightaways.
Like, it started fishtailing.
But because of Brian's training, I was able to bring the car back under control.
Oh, oh, almost lost a little control there.
Then, I actually spun out when Jamie hit me.
But again, in reverse, I bolted back up the hill.
And Jamie chased me, and it was all going pretty good.
But I was going too fast on the accelerator and I spun out.
He jammed into my front wheel, and I could not move.
Test over.
So how do you wanna call it? I have to say, I started this story thinking it was gonna be handily busted.
And I am now thinking that it's actually plausible, that it's not unreasonable how much speed and maneuverability you can get going in reverse.
Yeah, I mean, both of us, I think, if we had our choice would go, you know, front forward, um, 'cause that's gonna be your better option.
But it's surprising how good it can be.
Let's call it plausible.
All right.
I'm gonna drive forward home, though.
If you can.
- [ Laughs .]
- Usual wager? - Sure.
The, uh, loser cleans the shop, right? - Yeah.
- Okay.
Counting it in, I'm ready.
3, 2 [ Tires squeal .]
- 1.
- Hey, wait a second.
Here we go.
[ Cell phone ringing .]
Oh.
[ Beep .]
- Hello? Oh, hi, mom.
Ah! No, no.
Not you.
Not you.
So, it Hold on hold on.
Mom, it's not really the best time for me to talk.
[ Sheep bleat .]
[ Tires squeal .]
Saturday? Sure.
Oh, mom, hold on.
Mom, hold on.
Mom, I got to go.
I got to go.
Okay.
I'll talk to you later.
[ Beep .]
[ Explosion .]
Ahh! I lost.
You were looking a little distracted there.
Yeah, but I did pretty good in reverse.
Uh, all right.
- [ Laughs .]
all right, sir.
Time to get your racing gloves on.
We have an entire episode that puts the word "dangerous" into the phrase "dangerous driving.
" Like what? Well, we've got a Hollywood car chase story to tackle, that driving at high speed through traffic, evading your enemies in reverse, is easy.
But first up, we have a story all about the dangers of driving while talking on your cell phone.
Oh, there's a law against that, at least as far as holding it in your hand.
Exactly, but what is the solution for someone who wants to talk on their phone? - Hands-free? - Hello? Yup, but there's a myth that there is no improvement in safety talking hands-free versus holding on to your phone, that they both distract you just as much.
And I think we should test that.
Absolutely.
Narrator: Talking on a handheld phone leaves a driver both mentally and physically compromised.
Going hands-free does eliminate half the problem.
But with the other half still there, some say that it's just as dangerous.
[ Tires squeal, glass shatters .]
- Hey! Hey! Hey! - Hey! Hey! Hey! Narrator: To find out, the "Mythbusters" crew have constructed a classified course designed by drive expert Dave Storton.
So the first section here is a slalom.
So that's gonna test their steering ability while talking on the phone.
Narrator: Right now Adam and Jamie are being deliberately kept in the dark.
Storton: Coming out of the slalom, they'll immediately have to get on the brakes for a low-speed exercise called the offset lane.
Narrator: Because any pre-existing knowledge of the route could discredit their data.
Storton: Once through that, we head over to what's called a t-box.
Narrator: Instead, all they know is that they must stick to the speed limits and not clip any cones if they're to achieve a perfect score.
Right.
If you bolt the two together, maybe some sticky tape in the middle, and that should totally Okay.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
I got a thing to do.
Okay, wait right there.
Okay, so while we know that driving in a car while holding on to a cell phone and talking is bad Sorry, that wasn't for you.
The myth is that driving hands-free is just as bad, that there is no difference between hands-full and hands-free.
And we are just about to test it on the course behind me.
I can see it from a distance, but that's as close as I'm gonna get because my ignorance of this course is intrinsic to our test.
Narrator: Like Adam, Jamie's also going that extra mile to make sure their science is sound.
Adam's gonna run this test twice, first, with phone held in his hand, and then, secondly, hands-free.
Then, I'm also gonna run the test twice.
But I'm gonna do it in the inverse order.
The idea here is that we're gonna be able to remove any bias as far as learning, and getting better every time we do the test.
Narrator: Indeed.
And while Adam warms up in the test car Breaker, breaker.
We got a, uh, 5-5-5 on an m.
P.
B.
I'll take care of it.
Narrator: Jamie sits down in mission control.
All right, I've got my questions, I've got my phone.
We'll see what we can do to mess with Adam's world.
- Hello, sir.
- Hello.
Narrator: With Dave riding shotgun to mark Adam's moves, it's time to hold the phone.
[ Cell phone rings .]
- Hello.
- Hello, Adam.
I've got my questions ready for you and we're good to go.
3, 2, 1, here we go.
Okay, so, if you could compete with the Olympics, what event would you want to be in? Um, if I can compete in the Olympics, I would, uh, hold on a second.
There we go.
Hold on, sorry, um, I think I would do the luge because it requires, I think, the least amount of physical, uh, acuity.
Okay.
That's great.
Now, uh, I need you to add the first two given numbers and then add the next number to the last number given.
Okay.
8 and 7.
Um, 8 and 7 equals 15.
Okay, 3.
Uh, 10.
Excellent.
Okay.
For the next test, I'm going to read you a list of words and ask you to repeat them in reverse order.
Hold on a second.
Now, this is what you might be wondering about the complexity of the questions we are asking each other while driving.
Flamethrower.
Fire hydrant.
Water.
Why aren't we just reading "war and peace" over the phone? Water.
Fire hydrant.
Flamethrower.
Well, each of our questions falls into a category that activates the cognitive portions of the brain.
General knowledge Which country has the longest coastline? Uh, the longest coastline of any country.
China? All require the driver to use the part of their brain to listen at the same time as they're trying to use another part of their brain to drive.
Narrator: Adam isn't being judged on how well he answers the questions.
Add 1 and 7.
Uh, hold on.
[ Laughs .]
This is Narrator: It's how well he's driving that's the only metric.
Oh! Whoa, whoa.
Narrator: And the answer to that is not very well.
Um, hold on.
Sorry.
Narrator: The combination of one hand on the wheel and a brain that's multitasking into meltdown means that, by the end of the test, Adam's flunked with flying colors.
Jamie, I'm done.
That was awful.
[ Laughs .]
[ Laughs .]
Well, uh, let's reset and see whether you're still a menace on the next one.
All right.
[ Engine sputtering .]
- Okay.
Um, [Bleep.]
.
Well, I've completed my first test, and talking on the phone was absolutely awful.
And then, the car stopped working.
So we are actually going to transfer all of the cameras and microphones from inside this car to one of our production vehicles.
And I'm gonna run the test a second time, hands-free.
I mean, we still consider my first test valid, just have to do the second one in a different car.
Narrator: So, while the team pushes on, what else is on the docket? So driving in reverse.
Paint me a picture.
Well, look, our hero, let's say, is driving down a one way street.
He thinks he's home free, but blocking his path is a villain in a car.
He's got nowhere to go, so using the only Avenue open to him, the hero throws the car into reverse and backs up, bobbing and weaving through traffic at high speed to eventually evade his chaser.
And you wanna know if this is possible.
I totally do.
We've been trained to drive in a lot of different ways over the years, but backwards isn't one of them.
And it involves a lot of different skills, not only driving ability and spatial awareness but also, really, proprioception.
Yeah, yeah.
- Let's get to driving.
- Okay.
Beautiful day.
Wide-open, empty runway.
The conditions are perfect.
Oh, wait.
We need a car.
[ Tires squeal .]
You ordered a car? Indeed I did, sir.
Perfect timing.
- [ Laughs .]
You know, the movies are packed with people who can drive well, but they would lead you to believe that you could drive forward or reverse, however you choose.
We are constantly seeing our movie heroes racing away from the bad guys, avoiding obstacles, and driving all over the place with the rear end of the car facing the direction that they are actually going.
Narrator: But before trying out any twists or turns And That's a quarter mile.
Narrator: The guys first want to know if cars can even reverse Hollywood-fast in real life.
And for that, they're hitting the straightaway.
We've set up a course that's measured.
And we're gonna test out these cars, see how fast they go in forward and compare that to how fast they go in reverse.
All right, Mr.
Hyneman, are you ready? I'm good to go.
All right, commence quarter-mile test in 3, 2, 1 Go.
[ Tires squeal .]
Here it comes.
80 per hour.
Narrator: It's a good start for their converted cab.
But how will that speed compare when it's back-to-front? Most cars that you're ever gonna run into have only one reverse gear, which means that the top speed of your car in reverse is ultimately limited by the reverse gearing and the speed at which the engine is turning over.
Now, will our car be able to go as fast as they seem to go in the movies? That is just what we're about to find out.
Okay, commence backwards quarter mile in 3, 2, 1 Go.
Narrator: Jamie's off.
But from the get-go, it's clear that he's less "fast and furious" and more "driving miss Daisy.
" But that's because he's using this run to get his eye in.
31 miles per hour.
I think he can do better.
I think he's got more.
Narrator: Yup, it's test two, where the rubber will meet the road.
Okay, Adam, I'm in place and ready to go in reverse.
Narrator: As Jamie, this time, plans to put the pedal to the metal.
All right, Mr.
Hyneman, in 3, 2, 1 Go.
49, 50, 52, 53.
54 miles per hour.
Narrator: Now, that's more like it.
Reaching freeway speeds is more than a match for a Hollywood hero, but it's not all good news.
The trick with driving at high speed in reverse was to not do very much, just kind of hold still and try and keep the car in a straight line.
But unfortunately, we're not going to have that option now because, now we've got to drive through a slalom in reverse.
And that's all about steering.
That's gonna be really hard.
Narrator: Still to come Bye, cop.
Narrator: Backup bologna gets a movie makeover.
Yeah! - Narrator: And - Hello.
Hands-free goes high-tech.
Ahh! [ Laughs .]
Narrator: Is driving at speed in reverse as easy as the movies make out? [ Tires squeal .]
Well, not if Adam's straight line test Jamie: Coming up fast.
Narrator: Is anything to go by.
Adam: Ahh! [ Tires squeal .]
Whoa! There are a couple reasons that cars are difficult to drive at high speed in reverse.
[ Laughs .]
Hey.
Yeah, you started to lose it at about 50.
Yeah, man.
Jamie: And the first is that the steering is not self-centering.
If you let go of the wheel of a car going forward for just a second, it'll tend to self-correct because of the offset of the wheels.
If you're going in reverse, it does the opposite.
If you let go of that wheel, you're gonna go hard to the side, and you're gonna do a 180, and that's dangerous.
And correct a little too much, you're gonna lose it.
The other thing is that it's all about perspective.
When you're going forwards, with your head in align with the steering wheel, driving's really intuitive.
But in reverse, you're either looking into the mirror or over your shoulder, meaning your brain's having to make complex decisions from a viewpoint that it's just not used to.
[ Tires squeal .]
And so, when things go wrong, you're gonna flip the car or something bad.
Narrator: Given their struggles on the straightaway, today's test looks terrifying.
This is what we call the "diving in at the deep end" test.
We've got a course that's full of the kind of challenges a Hollywood hero has to face, and we're going to see if we can reverse through it at high speeds without crashing.
[ Laughs .]
This is why we have insurance.
Narrator: It's a course that a movie maestro would finish in a flash.
But how will the Mythbusters manage? All right.
First run in 3, 2, 1 Go.
Narrator: Adam's off.
And from the outset, he's ignoring the mirrors Whoa.
Oh, there goes a cone.
Narrator: And going with the over-the-shoulder technique.
Ah, [Bleep.]
! Narrator: But it's hardly paying dividends.
Because not only poor steering cripple his cone count Ah.
Narrator: But his slow speed means his time is terrible.
[ Laughs .]
How did I do? 1 minute 7 seconds.
1 minute, 7 seconds? I'll tell you what that does.
It wreaks havoc on my neck.
Well, I-i had a couple of screwups on that one.
It's very hard to gauge how hard you need to hit a turn in reverse because all of your metrics for reaction, in terms of how the car moves, are way off-kilter.
It's a far more sensitive device in reverse.
Narrator: Indeed, but can Jamie master the method and reverse this myth's fortunes? [ Engine starts .]
All right, cowboy.
Here we go in 3, 2, 1 Go.
[ Tires squeal .]
[ Laughs .]
I love that this is our job.
Narrator: Unlike Adam, Jamie's using the mirrors and the over-the-shoulder system.
But it's not a winning combination [ Tires squeal .]
[ Laughing .]
[ Shifts gears .]
Narrator: Because his crash course is even worse than Adam's.
But eventually, he crawls to the finish line in a sluggish 72 seconds [ Tires screech .]
[ Laughs .]
[ Groans .]
Narrator: Which is not good news for the myth.
Okay, you win.
- [ Laughs .]
Narrator: But all is not lost.
Look, there is no doubt that this test was hard.
Ah! The course was difficult, and we are at the novice end of the reverse driving spectrum.
But with some expert training, will we be able to bring this myth back from the brink? That's what's next.
Narrator: Actually, not quite.
Because next, the guys are jumping ship back to Alameda to find out if hands-free is as distracting as holding the phone.
[ Cell phone rings .]
Uh, hello, Jamie.
Narrator: Adam started with a hands-full control Oh, whoa.
Whoa.
Narrator: That went so badly Right.
Narrator: His car refused to continue.
Okay.
- [ Engine sputters .]
Narrator: So it's out with the old.
All right, Dave.
Let's do it.
Narrator: And in with the new.
But will going hands-free really be just as bad? [ Line ringing .]
Here we go.
[ Beep .]
Why, hello, this is Adam.
Well, hello there, Adam.
Should I start driving? - Yes.
Go ahead.
- Okay.
Narrator: Like last time, Adam must complete the course while answering questions both easy Okay, on which continent is the Sahara desert? The Sahara desert is on the African continent.
Narrator: And hard.
If buster walks halfway around a circle and then turns around and walks halfway back, is he now back where he started? Yes, he is.
No, he's halfway back.
[ Laughs .]
- Ah.
Okay.
Narrator: But despite the obvious burden on his brain, his driving has got better.
And although a clipped cone sees him marked down [ Laughing .]
- [ Laughs .]
Sorry.
I just hit something.
Narrator: His final score has improved, but was it due to the phone? Adam: Well, I've completed my hands-free run of our driving course, and I did it a lot better.
But here's the thing, I found taking the questions from Jamie just as distracting as I did the first time.
I feel like my better performance on the second test could be chalked up to just understanding the course a little bit better.
But that's why Jamie's gonna start hands-free and then go to hands-full.
If that is in effect, we should cancel it out by changing the order that we do the test in.
That's the theory, anyway.
Want to see what you can do with it.
I'm gonna suck.
I can tell you already.
Narrator: Not only will Jamie increase their sample size, but by going hands-free first Jamie and I almost never actually speak on the phone.
So this actually has a bit of novelty to me.
Narrator: The guys are trying to eliminate any course-learning bias.
[ Line ringing .]
This is Jamie.
Ah, good afternoon, Jamie.
It's Adam.
Go ahead and start driving, and I'm going to start asking you some questions.
Narrator: Adam starts with a simple icebreaker.
All right, hey, Jamie, if you could wake up tomorrow and gain any single quality or ability, what would it be and why? Um, I could fly.
Why? Narrator: But even that proves too much for Jamie.
Well, uh, because then I could go, um What was the question again? Why would you like to fly? Uh, well, because, that would, uh, it would save a lot of gasoline actually.
And, uh, you know, I could, uh, oh, look at that.
I bumped over a whole bunch of things.
[ Laughs .]
Narrator: With no improvement over the rest of the course I'd like you to add the numbers 4 and 7.
Let's see.
Uh, 4 and 7, uh Uh Ticktock, grandpa.
10 or, no, 11.
Narrator: Jamie scores the worst result of the day A disappointing 66.
That was awesome.
He starts every answer with, "let's see.
" [ Laughs .]
I'm sure I was doing the same things, but it's just very enjoyable to listen to someone so distracted.
Narrator: A quick reset later, [ cell phone rings .]
And they're set for the fourth and final run Hello.
All right.
Start your driving.
Narrator: Jamie, hands-full.
I'm going to read you a list of words and ask you to repeat them in a reverse order.
Crash, burn, demolish.
Uh, demolish, uh, burn, crash.
E.
M.
T.
, ambulance, doctor.
There's quite a narrative implied by these.
- Doctor, ambulance, e.
M.
T.
- Yes.
Narrator: Despite having only one hand on the wheel and swapping the phone mid-drive, Jamie scores 72, a fail by some distance, but an improvement nonetheless.
So, what does this mean for the myth? Okay, now, for this myth to be true, Jamie's hands-free score had to match his hands-full score.
And so did mine.
But that didn't quite happen.
Graphics, help me out.
You can see that I drove better hands-free, while Jamie drove better hands-full.
But that data also shows that we both improved on our second runs because we had experience of the course.
Now, if we remove that bias by averaging Jamie's and my data, what do we get? Beautiful, near-identical scores for each of the two techniques.
But we are not done yet, for two particular reasons.
One, our course isn't very real-world.
For starters, there's no traffic.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, is Jamie's and my driving abilities.
We have both received tons of training over the years in lots of different driving techniques.
Whoa! Whoo, yeah! We are quite far from your average Joes, and that is what we need next.
Aah! 3, 2, 1 Go.
[ Tires squeal .]
Adam: Now, Jamie and I have already gone pretty far, teaching ourselves the rudiments of driving in reverse.
[ Tires squeal .]
[ Laughs .]
But if we're gonna get really good at this, we're gonna need to get trained by an expert.
Luckily, we have an expert in reverse tactical driving right here.
Hello, sir.
Hello.
Jamie: Brian Frazer is a trainer at the emergency vehicle operations course here in California.
Now, we've used him repeatedly over past years, whenever we've had to learn how to deal with a particularly difficult driving situation.
And driving at speed in reverse certainly qualifies.
All right, Brian.
Where do we start? We're going to put barrel here, two barrels here, one on each side of the car.
All right.
Narrator: Brian's first job is to ignore the current course Right there is good.
Good.
Good ending point.
Aw.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Narrator: And set up something way more straightforward All right, that's the course.
Now what do we do? - Drive it.
- Okay.
Let's go.
Narrator: Because the technique he's going to teach is surprisingly simple.
So I'm gonna change my seating position now - a little bit.
- Okay.
I'm going to prop myself up, loosen my seat belt.
Turn yourself as far as you can around.
Get your body almost in the center of the of the car.
Okay.
I'm gonna steer the car now with one hand.
But this hand will never leave the steering wheel.
Not you're not gonna let the steering wheel shift in your hand to lock.
You're you're palming the wheel the entire time.
I see.
Okay, cool.
Narrator: And believe it or not, that's apparently all there is to it.
3, 2, 1 Go.
Narrator: By shifting his body to the center of the car [ Laughs .]
Oh, wow! Narrator: And keeping one hand on the wheel at all times Wow, I can't believe how fast you're able to do this.
Narrator: Brian speeds through the course at an impressive 41 miles per hour.
That is amazing.
Adam: So Brian just showed me that something I thought was impossible is in fact, totally possible.
So I'm about to give that a shot.
This is gonna be cool.
Narrator: Like Brian, Adam slides to the center to give a viewpoint that's easier to process.
- Oh, look at that.
- Yeah.
Okay, so.
All right.
3, 2, 1 Narrator: And like Brian, he then nails the course.
Oh, that's so cool.
Narrator: To check it wasn't just beginner's luck, he tries again and goes even faster.
Awesome.
Jamie: I got to say, this is amazing.
When we got here this morning, I thought Adam was gonna be training for four, five, maybe six hours.
But it's not been like that at all.
Instead, in just 20 minutes, he's gone from being pretty average to being pretty great.
And it seems to be all down to the central head position, which seems to be letting Adam's brain process the direction to turn much more accurately.
So, we're gonna put him back on our original course to see how he does now.
Should be interesting.
Narrator: It's the course the guys couldn't crack.
So, you ready to put what you learned into practice? I am.
In fact, I can't wait to try this course now.
3, 2, 1 Go.
Narrator: But will his 20 minutes of training let Adam turn it around? He's off to a good start.
Turns are a lot smoother this time.
He's looking really good.
Yeah! Well, yeah.
He's moving pretty quick.
Coming in good.
Yeah! Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me.
Tell me, tell me how I did.
57.
25.
Boom! That was cool.
Narrator: It's close to an astounding result.
With just two minor modifications Adam: Yeah! Narrator: Adam's bettered his best by over 15%.
All right, guess it's time to bring on the next event.
[ Tires squeal .]
Narrator: And what that means is, it's time for some real-life movie mayhem.
But first Hold the phone Because, in driving distracted, neither Adam nor Jamie could drive safely while talking hands-free.
But now, in a location way more sophisticated [ Laughs .]
It's locked.
Narrator: It's time to up the ante.
Jamie and I have realized we need much more controlled, scientific and realistic conditions, which is why we've come here to enlist the help of the experts at the Stanford university automotive innovation facility.
When we asked for their help in getting more realistic, they showed us a virtual world.
Come here.
This is their state-of-the-art driving simulator.
It is awesome.
From the front seat of this car, you are completely immersed in a world controlled and designed by a computer, into which we can add all sorts of traffic, pedestrians, obstacles, and surprises for all of our test subjects, that's right, many, many test subjects, while we get to the bottom of this myth.
Narrator: It's a multi-million dollar machine All right, then.
Going for a drive in the simulator.
Narrator: Which Jamie can't resist turning up to 11.
[ Strained voice .]
Okay, here we go.
[ Laughs .]
[ Horn honks .]
I'm gonna go the other way.
Whoa.
This is crazy.
Ah [ imitates crash sound .]
[ Laughs .]
Crazy driving aside, this driving simulator is actually very good.
Yeah, get out of my way.
[ Laughs .]
[ Horn honking .]
The way the screen wraps around, the visuals are convincing enough that you have to remind yourself that this isn't a real driving scenario.
He's doing, like, 95.
Interesting.
I'll see how he likes this.
[ Horn blares .]
In fact, it's so good that I was starting to get a little carsick.
So I think, as far as testing distracted driving, it's as good a simulation as we're going to get.
Narrator: As well as the freeway [ Laughing .]
Narrator: There's also a detailed cityscape [ Laughs .]
Oh, I guess I better put it in reverse.
Narrator: So that all driving environments are tested.
[ Jamie laughs .]
Narrator: The 30 volunteer drivers will be judged on whether they pay attention to the GPS instructions Automated male voice: At the next intersection, turn left.
Narrator: And whether or not they crash.
[ Tires squeal .]
Ah! Narrator: But that's not the only data, because drivers will also wear the latest in eye-tracking technology.
This eye-tracking system records precisely where and how long I'm looking at something.
Now, that's gonna give us hard data as to the level of distraction that I'm experiencing while I'm driving.
Narrator: With eagle-eyed Jamie all wired up, he's going to be the first data of the day All right.
Calling him now.
[ Cell phone ringing .]
Narrator: Starting after the break.
Hello? Narrator: Using a phone on the road is bad news, but is going hands-free just as foolish? To find out, the Mythbusters have a simulator that's second to none [ Laughs .]
I love this thing.
All right.
Calling him now.
Narrator: And a Hyneman that's got his hands full.
Hello? Good morning, Mr.
Hyneman.
Are you ready to start this test? - I'm ready.
- Okay.
Kick the car into drive, start driving, and I'll start asking you some questions.
Narrator: The questions are similar to those posed before.
Did you play a musical instrument as a child, Jamie? Yeah, I had a-a tuba in the bathroom right next to the toilet that I would play when I was, you know, doing number two or something.
[ Laughs .]
Narrator: But what's interesting is that, on the freeway Speed, underwater, camera.
Narrator: Jamie's driving Hold on.
You know, somebody just pulled in front of me.
Narrator: And answers Camera, underwater, speed.
Narrator: Are surprisingly solid.
In fact, it's only when he hits the streets 12 and 7.
Narrator: That he starts to waver.
Okay, uh, let's see.
Uh, 19.
Narrator: With so many distractions, it's no surprise when Jamie takes a turn for the worse.
Automated male voice: At the next intersection, turn left.
[ Signal clicking .]
Jamie, you have taken a wrong turn, and that means that the test is over.
You have failed.
Okay.
Narrator: With no rest for the wicked, Jamie immediately moves on to the hands-free test.
Hello.
What is the longest running race in the olympic games called? The longest running race in, uh, in the olympic game is called a maradon.
- A maradon? - Maradon.
- You mean marathon? - Yeah.
Okay.
Narrator: Once again, Jamie's focused on the freeway but struggles in the city as his brain tries to process the traffic and the conversation.
The earth is located in what galaxy? Uh, the, um You know, I don't know the answer to that question.
Narrator: Like last time Automated male voice: At the next intersection, turn left.
Narrator: Jamie doesn't crash, but he does ignore the GPS Oh, I'm sorry.
I screwed this up.
Narrator: Meaning he's failed again.
Well, the long and the short of it is that Jamie has done this test twice in our virtual environment, once holding the phone, once hands-free, and he has failed both times.
It's looking pretty good for this myth, but we are not leaving it here.
No, no, no.
We're going to funnel a whole bunch of volunteers through this testing procedure to get some real numbers to back up our potential conclusion.
Narrator: First of the 30 volunteers is Tiffany, who will be driving hands-full.
The first thing I want to know is what musical instrument you played as a child.
None.
Narrator: On the freeway, her driving is solid Logic questions.
Narrator: And her answers are perfect.
Name four days that start with the letter "t.
" Today, tomorrow, Tuesday, and Thursday.
Excellent.
Narrator: But moments after hitting the city How much dirt is Oh, we just ran down a cyclist.
This test is over.
[ Line ringing .]
Narrator: Next up is Michael.
Hello? Narrator: And, hands-free, he's fine on the freeway What is something you have at home that you should throw away, but you can't? Ah, my old computer.
I still have one that got built in, like, '95.
Narrator: But deadly downtown.
Um, which country [ Tires squeal .]
Oh! Ahh.
I-I believe that might be the end of our test there, Michael.
Where did that come from? [ Laughs .]
Thank you very much, sir.
[ Bleep .]
Narrator: When the next four volunteers also crash and burn Ah! Narrator: It's looking good for the myth.
Stop the car and, please, license and registration, ma'am.
Narrator: And although driver seven does make it through the course intact All right, uh, congratulations.
You have successfully completed the test.
Narrator: Nearly all other drivers, whatever their phone fashion, either get lost Uh, Ron, I'm sorry to inform you that you have now missed a turn.
And thus, the test is over.
Narrator: Or worse.
Oh, we had a crash, didn't we? Narrator: Undeterred, the guys plow on through two full days of testing.
And when volunteer 30 takes dramatic evasive action [ Laughs .]
I suck at this.
Narrator: The guys have all the data they could hope for.
All right, we have run a lot of volunteers through this experiment, and we've got a lot of data to take a look at.
So it's time to leave this virtual world, drive through the real world, back to our shop, and crunch the numbers.
No way.
They said that? That is hilarious.
Hold on just a second.
What? We were waiting for the results on distracted driving.
Oh, okay.
Uh, I got to call you back.
[ Beep .]
- Yes, we have results.
We tested 30 drivers out in Stanford, 15 hands-full, 15 hands-free.
Here is the result.
Uh, hands-full one passed, five failed by driving the wrong way, nine failed by crashing.
Hands-free one passed, six failed by getting lost, and eight failed by crashing.
What's that mean statistically? Statistically, it means no difference.
And what about eye tracking? The eye tracker was very interesting.
Across all 30 drivers, the amount of time they spent looking at something other than the road was identical between hands-free and hands-full.
Well, there you have it.
[ Cell phone beeps .]
Don't use your cell phone while you're driving.
Yeah, I'm done.
Okay.
So, where do you want to meet for lunch? Absolutely.
Narrator: Coming right up, the guys rev in reverse Yeah! Narrator: For a confounding conclusion.
[ Tires squeal .]
Ah! Narrator: In driving in reverse, there's a problem.
We we can't catch a break today.
We just rolled up the windows 'cause the wind's so diabolical, and we locked the keys inside.
[ Laughs .]
Narrator: Luckily, for once, there's a cop around when you need him.
- Hey! - Bingo.
[ Laughs .]
Mythbusters, repossessing cars since 1979.
[ Tires squeal .]
It's all about reverse driving in this episode, and how easy it is versus how easy Hollywood makes it seem.
Whoa! Jamie and I have tried out some courses ourselves.
[ Tires squeal .]
[ Laughs .]
We've been trained by a cop who is an expert in driving in reverse.
Here we go.
3, 2 - The reverse.
- Oh.
There we go.
Thank you.
[ Laughs .]
So now, it's time for me to take all of the skills I've thus far learned and put them to a real test.
I'm here at an abandoned neighborhood in Marina, California, where my crew has set up a course, and I'm just supposed to drive as fast as I can in reverse.
I'm actually pretty curious how this is gonna turn out.
Narrator: This final farewell is a half mile of twists and turns.
But it's got a whole lot more besides As the guys have put the movie mayhem back into this myth.
And that's not just the props.
We're gonna put a little pressure on Adam, because I'm gonna be in a cop car on his ass the whole way, with the sole exception that, when he sees me and takes off, I'm gonna be outside my car.
So he's gonna have just a little bit of a head start.
Narrator: Adam's goal, like the classic Hollywood hero, is to make it to the finish line before those pesky police.
That is a cop.
That's bad.
Narrator: But with reverse gear his only option, will he escape to victory? Here we go.
Bye, cop.
[ Tires squeal .]
Narrator: The chase is on.
Here we go.
Gettin' the heck outta here.
Narrator: And by the time Jamie's got going, Adam's already out of sight.
Make a right-hand turn here.
Don't let go of that wheel.
Narrator: By shifting to the central position, he's able to navigate with skill.
Whoa.
Flaming car! Dude.
Oh, man.
Post-apocalypse.
Narrator: At least, when he wants to.
I want those boxes.
Come on.
Yeah! Narrator: But while his steering is supreme I don't know where he is.
I hope he's not close.
Narrator: His speed, while fast, is no match for Jamie.
Oh, fruit stand.
I'm not gonna miss the fruit stand.
Whoa! Aah.
Oh! [ Laughs .]
Narrator: Adam may be down, but he's not out, as he reverses back uphill Ah, I'm going still! Narrator: A strategy that the Hyneman then copies.
With both drivers now revving in reverse, it's a case of who's gonna blink first.
[ Tires squeal .]
Oh! [ Laughs .]
Oh.
Yet another in the long line of things that we should just set up for the public and charge money for.
That was awesome.
Step out of the car with your hands up.
Okay.
[ Laughs .]
That was so much fun.
[ Laughs .]
Oh, my god.
That was the best thing ever.
Well, that went pretty much as good as I could have imagined.
First off, the course was amazing, full of all sorts of really interesting obstacles, from fruit stands to dudes fixing their cars to, come on, a flaming car.
I also was able to go through it really fast, I mean, fast enough where I almost lost control of the car on a couple of the straightaways.
Like, it started fishtailing.
But because of Brian's training, I was able to bring the car back under control.
Oh, oh, almost lost a little control there.
Then, I actually spun out when Jamie hit me.
But again, in reverse, I bolted back up the hill.
And Jamie chased me, and it was all going pretty good.
But I was going too fast on the accelerator and I spun out.
He jammed into my front wheel, and I could not move.
Test over.
So how do you wanna call it? I have to say, I started this story thinking it was gonna be handily busted.
And I am now thinking that it's actually plausible, that it's not unreasonable how much speed and maneuverability you can get going in reverse.
Yeah, I mean, both of us, I think, if we had our choice would go, you know, front forward, um, 'cause that's gonna be your better option.
But it's surprising how good it can be.
Let's call it plausible.
All right.
I'm gonna drive forward home, though.
If you can.
- [ Laughs .]