So You Think You Can Drive?

We are a nation of drivers - 45 million of us have got a licence.

With that many on the roads,

it's no surprise we all know at least one terrible driver.

Whether it is madcap manoeuvres...

Oh, Stephanie!

-Calamitous concentration...

-Or just plain recklessness...

Sometimes the difference between a careless error

and a crash is just a case of bad timing or luck.

We are going to take on drivers whose bad habits put them

and anyone else on the road in danger.

And show you how you could be safer behind the wheel.

In So You Think You Can Drive we will tackle two drivers...

Watch out. BLEEP!

..whose families think they are a very real risk to themselves

-and others.

-You're doing 70, 80 on a 40 mile an hour road.

He may hurt himself but he may hurt somebody more seriously.

She is, you know, an accident waiting to happen.

We reveal what happens when things really do go wrong on the roads

with access to the Serious Collision Investigation Unit.

Got a possible serious RTC come in now.

And though we know it's a bad idea to drive on the phone,

-we expose just how dangerous phones in the car can be.

-It's lethal.

-It's way too dangerous.

-So, do you think you can drive?

Most of us think we are good drivers but would our passengers agree?

When we offered to help the drivers who worry you,

you suggested people of all ages and walks of life.

But there was one group of drivers who popped up again and again.

Newly qualified drivers are a high risk group on the roads.

One in five will have an accident within six months of passing their test.

It's not surprising many of you suggested guys in their teens

or early 20s. Families like the Gibsons.

Liam Gibson is a 21-year-old electrician who needs to drive for his job.

But is bad attitude behind the wheel is driving mum, Janet, to despair.

When Liam is driving he thinks he owns the road

and that others are just in his way.

He gets quite aggressive, tailgates other people.

The faster he goes, the better.

It's quite scary. You're doing 70, 80 on a 40 mile an hour road.

It's fine.

Liam is a really lovely lad.

He's very helpful, caring and because I've now got

multiple sclerosis he is doing more driving for me.

I've now got an insight in how he does really drive.

You are either going fast or braking very sharply.

Or you're swerving around the corner so you get thrown around a bit.

You are going fast around these bends.

And it's not just his family that his recklessness affects.

He cut somebody up and they chased him

and the only way he could get away from this person was going

through a red light and managed to lose them.

And a bout of road rage in his work van led to another run-in -

this time with his boss.

Liam got a verbal warning and he was made to contact the driver

and apologise.

Liam hasn't had a serious road accident yet but sometime or other

he will if he carries on and you can tell him

but he doesn't want to listen.

It's nine o'clock on a Monday morning. Guess where I am?

In a chicken farm! It's where Liam's first job of the week is.

-His mum is waiting in the shadows. Morning, Janet.

-Morning, Dom.

He will be here any minute. We are going to need to get in there.

Liam thinks he's at the chicken farm to look at the electrics.

Let's hope this bright spark hasn't twigged his mum has asked for our help.

Here he comes.

He's driving sensibly at this point. Good lad. Are you ready, Janet?

Let's go.

Dominic Littlewood from So You Think You Can Drive?

-Are you a bit surprised?

-Yeah, I've been set up.

-Why are we here?

-So I think I can drive.

-Yeah. I'll tell you why.

Your driving has been scaring the bejeebies out of your mum.

She thinks your driving needs a bit of intervention and improving.

He does admit he's got a problem with speed.

-Why else have you got a problem?

-My mum, at the moment!

-Yeah, you are in trouble there, Janet. Are you ready?

-Just a bit!

We're going back to your house to pick your car up. Come on.

We are back at their house

and I want to know why Liam won't listen to his mum and dad.

-You need to be driving your mum around more, don't you?

-Yes.

-Because she's got a medical condition.

-That's it.

-Why haven't you changed and made her happy?

-Because I'm still young.

Being young, my reaction times are quite quick. So...

Nine times out of ten I can probably stop.

Like loads of lads his age, Liam thinks he's king of the road

and that's what we've got to fix.

Right, come round, jump in the car.

I want to talk to you about some modifications we've done.

As soon as Liam left for work this morning, we took

control of his pride and joy so that we can see his driving for ourselves.

And while Liam gets changed, there's another surprise.

Right, I'm going to be tailing Liam and sitting next to me

is Sandra, one of the UK's top driving instructors

and she's spent years retraining offending drivers.

From what she has heard about Liam's driving,

she's not too happy, are you, Sandra?

Not really.

We've given Janet a specific route to follow. Remember,

Liam has no idea Sandra is watching his every move.

Way off.

-JANET:

-It's only 30 down here.

-Yeah, there's nobody about.

And it's not long before he shows his true colours.

-Was there any need to overtake?

-Yeah.

There's two cars in between us all ready.

You're now doing 45.

-SANDRA:

-We're in a 40.

He's got big yellow signs to tell us we are coming up to a school.

-JANET:

-Is that the school car park there?

-Yeah.

-He has just driven past that school at 50.

-It's like he's rally driving.

In fact, Liam is going so fast that it's virtually impossible for us

to tail him at all. We've lost him.

He's gone. And we lost him again.

Where is he? I can't believe we've lost him again.

-Right, we have lost him again.

-Hello? OK, bye.

You need to find somewhere to pull over.

-I can see why his mum is worried.

-Yeah, so can I.

I don't think I was going that fast, was I?

I'm staggered he hasn't, as yet, had a serious crash.

We spent two hours trying to follow Liam but barely saw him for dust.

It's time to stop this speeder in his tracks.

It's good to see you both again.

Liam, I lost you more times than I could remember.

Anyhow, I want to introduce you to Sandra McDonald-Ames, who was

sitting alongside me in the car.

Sandra is one of the UK's top driving instructors

and she specialises in retraining offending drivers.

I asked Sandra to come along today to critique your driving.

-Over to you, Sandra.

-I am totally unimpressed with your driving.

You show a staggering disregard, not only for your safety,

but for everybody else on the road.

We saw you drive at excessive speeds past a school,

nearly 50mph at school time when the children are coming out.

You take unnecessary risks on bends in rural areas.

You don't know what's going to be around the corner.

If you were taking your driving test today, you would have failed within minutes.

-What do you think of that?

-Hands up in the air. Bang to rights.

-You have no points on your licence, you've never been in an accident.

-No.

-You are oozing confidence, you feel like king of the road.

-Yes.

But you've gotten into bad habits.

Sandra is going to try and sort those out for you. Are you up for that?

-Yes.

-While Liam heads home, Sandra has a plan to show him

how his bad attitude could result in serious consequences.

Where do we go from here?

To really challenge his attitude we need him

to face up to the consequences and we can't do that on the road.

-You're talking about a test track?

-I am.

-Ooh, I like this bit!

It's not just young

and inexperienced drivers who cause accidents.

There are loads of people who have had a licence for years

who are still a menace on the roads.

Meet Jodie Barchha Lang -

-a woman with 15 years' experience behind the wheel.

-Ooh, yes.

Let's stop because there's a roundabout.

And her long-suffering husband,

Phil, who is sure she's on a one-way street to disaster.

Watch out. BLEEP!

Going in the car with Jodie is a white knuckle ride.

You are supposed to be this side of the road.

She tends to veer over the centre lines in the road,

she uses the mirror for anything but looking at traffic or things that are behind her.

-Lack of indication.

-And that's not all.

Add a dollop of self-confidence...

I want to go in there so you will just have to wait.

..and a pinch of lane straddling, and you've got a lethal mix that

could turn a funny misdemeanour into a real-life nightmare.

-Stop!

-I am stopping!

The last time in the car with Jodie she nearly killed

a man on a motorbike and that was it.

I told her I would never be getting in a car with her again.

-CAR BEEPS

-OK, OK.

We used to joke about it but not any more.

Something drastic has got to change before one of these minor

incidents becomes something more major.

Jodie needs help before it's too late and that's where we come in.

Jodie knows her family have told us her driving is bad.

What she doesn't know is that I am here to confront her right now

and I brought with me a little bit of evidence.

The casualties of Jodie's incidents so far include...

Not to mention the side of a family friend's parked Jaguar.

Here she comes. Hi, Jodie!

-It's Cherry from So You Think You Can Drive? How are you?

-Hello!

-Hi.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah.

-Do you want to step out of the vehicle, please?

So, Jodie, the evidence suggests to me that you might need our help.

These represent the trail of destruction that you have

apparently left behind.

-Tell me what's going on with the wing mirror situation.

-I don't know.

I'm sure they automatically extend out into the road.

-Do they sense you're coming and become bigger?

-They do.

What's going on with the wheel trims?

Phil's got two left because I took...

Cracked and scraped two on a roundabout going too close.

-How did he feel about that?

-He wasn't happy.

-Not happy.

No, then he gave me a lecture about what a bad driver I am

but I don't think I am.

That leads me nicely on to Phil. Please join the party.

So, Phil believes it's time for an intervention. Is that fair?

I don't think so. I don't think I'm that much of a bad driver.

I know now you've put it like this it looks bad.

-The evidence speaks volumes.

-It certainly does.

Jodie needs a serious reality check so I'm borrowing her car

so that we can get to the root of the problem.

Ta-da! After a hi tech make over, I'm back at Jodie's house.

So, if you'd like to step inside... There we go.

-You will see that there are two cameras.

-One there.

-Absolutely.

-Oh!

TOOTS HORN

We have armed Phil with a map that will take Jodie through busy areas

and help us identify the habits that could cause a nasty incident.

-You look a bit nervous, Phil, are you nervous?

-Always.

-Ha-ha!

-I'll see you very soon.

-Right, forwards.

-Bye!

-TOOTS HORN

-Put your door in.

While Jodie heads off in her newly souped-up car,

I've got a surprise in mine.

So I can keep a close eye on what's going on, I'm going

to be trailing her.

And next to me is my secret weapon. Ready? Let's go.

Jodie has no idea that Sandra is watching her.

-TOOTS HORN

-Don't overreact.

And she's soon displaying her unique style of driving.

-I have no idea where she is going at the moment.

-Wow!

There's nothing coming.

But lack of indication is the tip of the iceberg.

She's the queen of road hoggers.

Cars are having to move out of her way because of where she is.

See this red area in front of those lights,

do you know what that is?

-It's got a bike on it.

-Yeah. And you're a car.

-And a car that has mirrors, Jodie.

-She's reversing.

Did you know how close that car was to you when you went backwards?

-No.

-Have you got visibility out the back?

Why do I need to see out of the back when I'm going forwards?

-Oh, Phil, you may deserve a medal after this.

-Stay over here.

I'm trying to see what's going on.

From what I've seen, I think Jodie's driving is potentially very, very dangerous.

And Sandra hasn't seen her basic control yet.

She's going to do a hill start. She has just rolled back. No signal.

-She is off.

-Stop!

-I am stopping.

She applies the brakes very, very late.

And in busy city traffic, when Jodie gets stressed...

-I want you to get out of this car.

-OK, pull over on the left. I'll get out. There's your map.

..all her problems come together to make her a real risk on the road.

-That was so dangerous.

-What else was I supposed to do?

No wonder Phil is worried about her.

There are so many stupid idiots on the road.

-Why are you holding the seat?

-Phil looks like a petrified passenger.

Jodie might not have caused a crash yet

but that's just down to good luck.

Now it's time for her to face Sandra.

Wow, Jodie we asked you to show us your driving

and you certainly gave us something to watch.

It was nail-biting at times, I'll be honest.

I would like to introduce you to Sandra McDonald-Ames -

one of the country's most qualified driving instructors

And she has been critiquing your driving all day.

Jodie, if this had been your driving test,

you would have failed within the first 10 minutes.

You seemed to have a lack of awareness and anticipation

about what the other road users are doing around you.

You are consistently driving up the centre of the road.

What we saw is when you got into busy traffic,

more faults were starting to be generated.

I have got real concerns about your driving.

-Do you want to get better, Jodie?

-Yeah, I do.

Well, Sandra knows what you need to work on,

and you've got a lot of work to do,

so go and get a really good rest

-and we'll see you tomorrow.

-I'm going to need it!

After having my licence for 15 years,

after what I've heard today, it is a little bit soul-destroying,

but there still is the possibility that, since I've met Phil,

it's got worse, because the job that I'm in makes me drive bad.

Coming up, Phil's in the firing line again, with Jodie's driving.

There's a bump in the bloody road, it's not my fault!

Many of us are guilty when it comes to watching our speed.

But, in the blink of an eye,

high speed can turn into a serious incident.

Nearly a quarter of fatal road accidents involve a driver

who was using excessive speed.

Today, I have joined Durham Police Special Operations Unit

as they target speeding drivers breaking the 70mph limit

in a notorious accident blackspot on the A66.

So he's not even slowed down.

Either that or he doesn't realise we're the police

and we're now behind him at 91mph.

Right, the penny's dropped.

Were you aware that it's a 70mph speed limit?

-I am, yes.

-Yes, you are.

-Why were you speeding?

-I generally drive to what I think is safe.

I have three kids in the car and my wife, so I wouldn't drive if I thought it was dangerous.

But the police know that however confident you are,

speeding puts you and others in danger.

If he's got to stop quickly

then I would suspect he would change his mind and think

that it was quite dangerous, and he wished he was going a bit slower.

When accidents happen, the police see first-hand

the devastating impact of high speed.

And where there is serious injury or fatality it's up to officers

from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit

to establish what caused the crash.

These specialist police officers use state of the art technology

and the very latest in vehicle forensics to try and establish

whether there's a criminal case to answer.

And, to the victims' families,

these are the expert witnesses that they'll see in court.

Today, we've been given unprecedented access

to the case files of East Midlands SCIU.

Ambulance, what's the full address of the emergency?

We're on the A60, just outside of Church Warsop,

there's two cars crashed, they're totally smashed up.

Just the one person injured?

In this car, but there's another car, there's two in that one.

Does everyone appear to be completely awake?

No, he's not awake at all.

When we get these types of call-outs,

We know it's either going to be fatal or potentially fatal.

It's going to be as bad as it gets.

The scene that PC Gascoigne encountered on 15th August, 2012,

was one of devastation.

The driver of a silver Ford Fiesta,

21-year-old Joseph Weston,

appeared to have lost control of his car on a bend.

He swerved into oncoming traffic -

colliding head-on with a black Citroen C2.

When the Fiesta came to a halt,

its driver and the passenger both had broken bones

But the driver of the second car,

24-year-old Luke Winter, was fatally injured.

You don't see somebody

at seven o'clock at night and then, two hours later,

you're identifying their body.

Life before Luke's crash, we were pretty sorted, really.

Just very happy. We'd got two great kids.

And then, of course, 15th August arrived and, well...

..our lives changed.

At the time of Luke's death, I was actually pregnant. Nearly 17 weeks.

BABY GIGGLES

It's heartbreaking to think that he'll never meet his child,

and he'd have been a fantastic dad.

He'd have been a fabulous dad.

When you arrive at a crash scene like that, how do you cope with that?

You have to detach yourself from the emotion of the collision,

and the personalities involved,

and just deal with it as a crime scene.

Basically, deal with it in a clinical way.

And what was obvious to you at the time?

Given the catastrophic damage to both vehicles,

it was clear it was a high-speed impact.

The police suspected that a serious crime could have taken place.

He had caused a horrific collision with massive damage.

Death by careless driving carries a maximum prison sentence

of five years, whereas death by dangerous driving

carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.

Significantly more serious.

The driver had not been drinking or using a mobile phone.

To charge him with the more serious offence,

the SCIU would need to establish evidence that he'd been speeding.

To show death by dangerous driving,

we needed to establish his speed

to see whether it was excessively high.

But proving what has really happened in a car accident can be hard.

To get to the truth, the police had just one option -

examine the forensic evidence at the scene,

starting with the tyre marks.

How can tyre marks help you establish the speed?

Basically, we work backwards from the resting position

of the silver Fiesta, and in order to perform these calculations,

what we do is a skid test.

The SCIU drive the accident route with a machine

that records and monitors how the car behaves in a skid.

Crucially, the test revealed that there was no oil,

water or problems with the road surface

that could explain the Fiesta's loss of control.

And there was another vital find.

Data told us that after the vehicle had finished spinning

as it rotated from the collision, it was travelling at 43mph.

After the collision.

OK, which is just fractionally under

-what the speed limit should be anyhow.

-Exactly.

Even though he's had such a severe impact.

If the Fiesta was doing 43mph after the collision,

its speed before the crash must have been extremely high.

And an examination of the wrecked car seemed to prove it.

We saw that the speedometer of the Ford Fiesta was locked at 94mph.

That's all the evidence you need, surely? Case watertight?

If only it was that simple.

But the forensic lab found a major flaw in the evidence.

The Fiesta's rev counter was stuck too,

but at a rate that didn't match the speedo.

With this inconsistency,

the dangerous driving case could fall apart.

Everything was going to come down to forensics with this case.

Coming up...

Could the SCIU gather enough evidence

to proceed with a dangerous driving prosecution?

We all know that unless you're on hands-free,

it's not legal to use a mobile while you're driving,

but 30% of us admit to

sending sneaky texts while we're at the wheel.

How dangerous is it to use your phone in your car?

I've arranged to meet a group of women who love their phones

to find out how safe they feel using them on the road.

-How often do you use your phone in the car?

-All the time.

LAUGHTER

-All the time!

-All the time.

I got a hands-free kit just so that my weekly calls to my mum,

I could do in the car on the way back.

I use it for work, so I'll hit the hands-free

or sometimes I might forget to sort of connect it up,

so I'm sort of scrambling around down the side

by the gear stick, trying to,

you know, tap in the password to my phone to then connect it.

Sometimes, it feels rude not to answer your phone,

especially if it's someone you talk to a lot,

they know you're available, and you just feel like you have to,

or at least say, "I'm driving, I'll speak to you later on."

If I'm making a phone call, I take my phone out,

scroll through my contacts, and then I push the button,

so isn't that the same as,

almost practically the same as sending a text?

Yeah, sending a text.

For this lot, using the phone in the car is an everyday occurrence,

but the latest research suggests that all phone use,

including hands-free,

has a potentially dangerous impact on your driving performance.

To find out just how dangerous,

I've brought Natalia and Stacey with me

to the Transport Research Laboratory,

so that Dr Nick Reed can put them through his tests.

This is DigiCar, our driving simulator,

and we're going to ask you to do three drives.

One as a baseline, to see what your normal driving behaviour's like,

and then one whilst texting, and then one whilst using a hands-free,

and I'll be looking at the data, have a look and see how you do.

They have just a few minutes to get used to both the simulator

and the route before starting phase one of the test.

In this first part, Nick will mimic a hands-free conversation,

by asking them a series of questions.

And he will monitor how much taking a call distracts them from driving.

If I say Jack stole Anne's ball, who is the thief?

Er...Anne. Jack.

What we've tried to create in the route is fairly typical

driving situations, someone braking unexpectedly,

someone pulling out, and we're looking to see if your responses

-to that change if you're having to use a phone at the same time.

-OK.

If three chocolate bars cost 93 pence,

what is the cost of one chocolate bar?

Three chocolate bars cost 90 pence?

£2.70?

I was quite shocked at how I wasn't able to concentrate

on what somebody was saying to me,

because I was concentrating on the road,

and how much concentration it takes.

Section two of the test. They've now got to send a text

while Nick monitors the impact on their driving performance.

She really isn't watching the road! Is that normal?

That is typical of what we see in these kinds of tests,

and you can see she's drifting across into the opposing lane,

and just notice there, she had to do a real sudden correction.

Yeah, she's really finding it difficult.

There are three parts to the distraction.

She's thinking about how to compose the message,

she is taking her eyes off the road, to look at the phone,

and she's clearly holding the phone

and taking her hand off the steering wheel,

-so she's lost control in that respect.

-Oh! There she goes.

Those things together are really what contribute to the distraction.

Wow! She very nearly drove into the side bank.

Wow, really? Going to drive up the hill!

She's really moving all over the place now.

Yes, this is fairly typical.

She's lost control of the vehicle,

drifting from one side of the lane to the other,

and not managing to keep control.

So, the text message has just arrived.

I'm just not sure she would have done.

The test is over.

And now it's time for the results.

Stacey, you had 10% slower reaction times,

but I think that's partly because you were engaging more

in the driving, rather than concentrating on the conversation.

Natalia, your reaction times were about 30% slower,

and your drifting was more than 100% more variable in the curves.

Both of you, in fact, had driving that was

worse than being at the legal limit of alcohol,

in terms of your reaction times, and control of the vehicle.

That's really scary. Really scary.

That's a shocking revelation,

that driving even hands-free can affect your reaction time

as much as being on the drink drive limit,

and is no safer than hand-held calls,

while the effect of texting can be even more dangerous.

-SHE SIGHS

-It was just...

frightening, how...

yeah, losing control of the car when I was texting.

I think a quick "I'm going to be late home" is fine,

but an in-depth conversation where you really have to concentrate...

Just isn't worth it.

My phone's going in the boot every time I get in the car now!

No, no. It's lethal.

It's just way too dangerous.

SHE EXHALES

I think the results today have shocked us all.

None of us were expecting to hear that texting

and speaking on your phone can be as dangerous as drink-driving.

And I think from the results we've heard,

all of our driving habits are going to change for ever.

I'm in Cambridgeshire with Liam and his parents.

Today, he's about to get a big wake-up call.

Liam's mum has MS, and relies on him to get her around.

But his bad attitude behind the wheel has been driving her round the bend.

Our expert Sandra was pretty shocked by some of Liam's driving antics.

She thinks he needs to change his attitude.

So, we've lined up a day on a private test track

to teach Liam some home truths about speeding,

and why he needs to stick to the limit.

Liam will be in this car.

It's got a hydraulic base, and when activated, it recreates

the kind of spin that would happen if he lost control on the open road.

-Just won't know what hit him.

-Here he goes, here he goes.

Liam will be travelling at 45mph, almost the speed

that he passed the school when we were following him.

TYRES SCREECH

One, two, three, four, five cones!

-Oh, dear.

-Ouch!

Ooh, that must have really shook him up. It shook me up.

-That'll definitely wake him up, won't it?

-Yeah.

-It will.

That was...scary.

If that were children, though...

They wouldn't have a chance.

-How are you feeling?

-I didn't expect it to be that violent.

I tried to steer out of it, but the car wasn't having any of it.

-No, a total lack of control.

-As soon as it was gone, it was gone.

I couldn't control it.

-It is quite a wake-up call, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

A touch of reality, yeah.

When I first met Liam, he admitted to speeding.

His defence was that he was young,

and his reactions are very quick, which I can't argue with.

But quick reactions do not beat the laws of physics.

Time to teach Liam another lesson.

Now, Liam, it's not only skidding and corners we're worried about.

The difference between avoiding disaster

and being part of it is quite often just down to stopping distance.

Now, we'll conduct a little experiment here.

I want you to take that cone there and walk down the runway here,

and place that at the point where you think your car would stop

if you were doing 40mph

and you applied the brakes on at that stop sign.

-All right.

-Off you go.

-Roughly, about there.

-OK.

Right, now we're going to put it to the test.

Liam believes he'll stop about 11 metres from the sign,

which is a little more than the width of a tennis court.

Here we go. Stop!

TYRES SCREECH

-OK.

-He was a whole car length out, and remember,

he knew he was going to have to stop,

and that's not the case in an emergency situation on an open road.

-That's the difference between a live child and a dead child.

-Yeah.

Could you have stopped any quicker?

-No, I think was the quickest I could have done that.

-OK.

OK, Liam, Dominic here. I'd like you to do exactly the same thing,

but this time, reach 50mph.

Now, this is the sort of speed he feels quite comfortable doing,

-isn't it?

-Definitely.

-Round those country roads. Here we go.

Stop!

TYRES SCREECH

Ooh. Double the distance.

Ooh indeed. At 50, he stopped 23 metres from the sign,

just less than the length of an average swimming pool,

and if he'd been in his heavy van, it would have been even more.

Now, he's going at 60.

-60 miles an hour. Get ready, get ready, get ready...

-Stop!

TYRES SCREECH

Whoa! Look at that.

He's stopped nearly 40 metres from the point he put the brakes on,

and that's about the same distance as four double-decker buses end-to-end.

And there's nothing he could do to make it quicker.

Imagine if you didn't have such good tyres, good brakes...

-Wet conditions, yeah.

-Distracted by one of your mates.

-You can imagine somewhere down there rather than here.

-Yeah.

-You can't argue with those distances, can you?

-No, those distances are set.

I mean, it doesn't matter how quickly you react.

Those distances aren't going to change.

-How much of a surprise was that for you?

-That was a big surprise.

You don't feel it when you're in a car.

You can't judge it, but now we've done it,

I can see it's a big difference.

Finally, I want to show Liam just why the speed limit is 30

in residential areas.

At 30mph, the average distance it takes to stop after braking

is just over three car lengths, and that's where Mr Average is.

Let's see how close he is to that cardboard cut-out.

Here he comes at 30.

-Stop!

-TYRES SCREECH

Oooh!

Mr Average is Mr Lucky.

At 30, Liam is able to stop in time to avoid a collision.

Now, he's going to do the same at 39.

The reason we've asked him to do it again at that speed

is because that's what we've seen him doing in a residential area.

-Stop!

-TYRES SCREECH

Ooh! Mr Average is definitely Mr Unlucky.

If that had been a real child...

He'd be dead.

-Or injured, seriously injured.

-Yes.

Particularly as he's gone underneath the vehicle as well.

You know when you were at 30?

There was probably a five-foot gap between you and that cut-out.

That's the difference between 30mph and 39mph.

That's the difference between life or death.

Or a prison sentence.

What you got to take into consideration as well,

when you're coming down the runway there, you knew this was here.

When there's accidents on the road, like this, it's quite often

when you're not expecting it.

When your reactions will be that fraction slower.

You haven't got as much time to think about it, have you?

It's there in front of you, then.

After everything that you've been through today,

what's the one thing that's really sort of shocked you?

That 9mph, what difference it makes.

-That, more than everything else?

-Yeah, the speed.

If you go a bit faster, your distances are just...

Yeah.

It's been an eye-opening day for Liam,

and I think the possible consequences of his speeding

are starting to hit home.

Earlier, we met Jodie,

whose family are concerned that she's an accident waiting to happen.

Today, Sandra will begin tackling some of Jodie's core issues,

in an attempt to make her safer on the road.

There's your friend.

When you don't concentrate, you're pointing things out,

you tend to swerve at the same time, and you veer off.

Yeah, cos how can you hold the wheel straight

and point at something at the same time?

And I'm catching up with Sandra before they arrive.

I'm really concerned about how distracted she gets.

She's clearly unaware of all the traffic that surrounds her,

she's not anticipating what they're going to do.

She's coming into junctions, she's braking really late.

It's not only her safety we're concerned about,

it's everyone else out on the road.

I still want to know what's going on today. There's something afoot.

There sure is, Phil!

Sandra's first challenge will show Jodie

how much her lack of concentration and forward planning

affect her driving.

-Good morning!

-Good morning.

-How are you after yesterday?

Well, I'm still a bit sad, actually,

cos I don't actually think that I am a...terrible, terrible driver.

-OK. Well...Phil, if you would like to take this bowl of water.

-Thanks.

Jodie, we would like you to drive the best you possibly can

and not spill any of this water,

which is going to be placed on Phil's lap.

It might seem unusual,

but it's a really well-established driving technique.

What we're looking for is for some smooth braking,

some anticipation of what other road users are going to do

and trying to keep as much water in that bowl as possible.

-Oh, dear.

-Phil, you look nervous.

I think I've got every reason to be.

-LAUGHTER

-I think I'm going to get wet.

'Not necessarily, Phil.'

Earlier, Sandra showed me how it's done.

What I'm trying to do is I'm looking ahead, I'm planning,

I'm scanning for any additional hazards,

because what it will mean is that I'm not going to brake hard,

keeping my steering nice and steady.

What this will do is really demonstrate to her

what she needs to do to improve that.

Not a drop!

-Oh, dear!

-Thank you.

The bowl contains five-and-a-half litres of water.

If Jodie focuses and plans ahead,

she shouldn't have to brake sharply and therefore won't spill a drop.

-Don't blame me!

-Better be driving carefully...

It wasn't my idea.

And we'll be trailing her to monitor the drive.

-LAUGHING:

-Oh, no!

Oops - a bit too fast around that roundabout, I think.

I'm trying hard, Philip!

-Are you wet?

-Yeah.

It must be your stupid-shaped legs, then.

Really, Jodie? Or was it the way you took that corner?

-PHIL GROANS

-There's a bump in the bloody road!

It's not my fault!

But if you'd been looking, Jodie, you could have slowed down.

Oh...!

Oh, Philip, I'm trying my best, here!

Whoa...

-Oh...!

-Oh, dear...

-LAUGHING:

-The bloody van pulled out!

I'll be very surprised if there's any water left.

Oh, my God, I'm absolutely drenched.

Hi...how much have you got left?

JODIE LAUGHS

-Absolutely none.

-Wow...Phil...

There's not a drop left in there.

You look...wet, I'll be honest.

Soaked, I think is the word.

It was all going well until the last minute, when somebody pulled out.

Hm...you're forgetting about the cameras in the car, Jodie.

That's a definite case of braking too late.

Whoa...

Oh...!

Jodie, you have still got a LOT of work to do,

from what we've seen today.

-Brace yourself.

-Oh, dear.

Jodie seems oblivious that her basic faults

could easily cause an accident.

'Time for a heart-to-heart.'

When you come back home and there's a scrape down the car

and maybe a wing mirror's come off, you've hit a wall,

what do you think is going on?

If you knock a wing mirror off, you can put it back on again.

It's not like you've run someone over, is it? Know what I mean?

But what happens if it's not a wing mirror?

It's actually someone on a bicycle or crossing the road?

That's never happened to me

and I don't think I'm that careless, to get to that point.

Yeah.

'She really doesn't seem aware of what she's doing wrong.'

But yesterday, Sandra noticed that Jodie panics in busy traffic,

causing her to make dangerous mistakes.

She believes that improving Jodie's basic control of the car

will build her confidence.

So next, she wants Jodie to face her nemesis.

As you can see, we're on a hill...any clues?

No, please!

What we've seen from your driving

is that you are struggling with the basic control of the vehicle.

So we are going to ask you to do a hill start.

It's something that everybody must be able to do

to pass a basic driving test.

Oh, dear.

Oh...

Ah!

Jodie?

Just to make sure there's absolutely no backwards motion of the wheels,

I'm going to put these behind them.

-LAUGHING:

-Oh, no!

Good luck.

'This is an important lesson in clutch control.

'First, Jodie will show Sandra how she usually tackles a hill start.'

She's very nervous when it comes to hill starts.

Why? What are the things she does wrong?

She usually rolls backwards...

OK, when you're ready.

-..which I suspect...

-CHERRY SCREAMS

..we're about to...see...

HE LAUGHS

TOOT

Handbrake on for me.

It's not a "cracking" start...

Will it be second time lucky?

OK, Jodie - take two.

Oh, the tension is mounting.

It's really, really nerve-racking.

JODIE SIGHS

-Oh!

-Argh!

-Oh, only three!

Oh, they're all gone. No, they're all gone.

HORN TOOTS

Yeah...

'It's Hill 2-0 Jodie.'

Now, can she do it under the "eggs-pert" guidance of Sandra?

Get yourself into gear.

That's it - before you do anything with the handbrake,

I'd like you to find the biting point.

Doing it nice and slowly.

-Got it?

-Mm-hm.

-Keep your feet exactly where they are, do not move them, just put your handbrake down.

Just put your handbrake down.

-She's done it!

-Yeah!

Stop, stop the car!

HE LAUGHS

-Well done Jodie!

-Amazing!

-You did so well.

-I couldn't believe it.

-I think a dozen eggs is enough for today.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

It's skills like this

that will make Jodie a better and safer driver.

And the hard work's just begun.

So what I haven't told you is that, in a few weeks,

Sandra is going to set for you a driving test unlike any other.

-LAUGHING:

-Oh, my God!

It is going to be very challenging, Jodie,

because that is the only way

that you can really prove to us and your family

that you've really improved.

-Are you ready?

-I'm ready.

-Good luck.

-Thank you!

Families who lose loved ones in a car crash

want to know what happened

and if a crime has been committed, they want justice -

families like the Winters.

Here in Cuckney Hill, Nottinghamshire, in August 2012,

the investigation was under way into the fatal road accident

that claimed the life of 24-year-old Luke Winter.

Luke's family knew that the fate of the case rested in the hands

of the East Midlands Serious Collision Investigation Unit.

We all felt like we were on a mission

to make sure that we did

as much as we could, helping the police.

We just wanted...

We just wanted justice, that's all.

The police suspected the driver was guilty of death by dangerous driving,

but they had to prove it by gathering evidence that he had been speeding.

They were forced to turn to a multimillion pound laser scanner.

With this device, they could create a 3D model of the crash site.

I've got all this data available to me,

and I was able to calculate a theoretical maximum speed

for the bend where he lost control.

-OK, what was that speed?

-88mph.

In theory, the Fiesta must have been doing more than 88mph

to lose control.

But theory alone isn't enough in a court of law.

The police needed to show that it is possible to drive the bend

safely at that speed

to prove that the Fiesta was going even faster.

Mark is an elite Class 1 advanced police driver.

We're about to repeat the same test that was done at the time

to prove Mark's calculations.

Obviously, this is a public road and it could be a dangerous experiment.

So Mark's got officers at either end, holding back the traffic,

so effectively, for the time being, this is a safe road for us

to do it on, correct?

OK, time is of the essence - off we go.

-Wow - we were really motoring then, weren't we?

-Yeah.

What speed did we reach, the exact one?

86mph.

We believe that the Fiesta driver exceeded that speed on the night

and that's why he experienced the loss of control that he did

and why the event happened.

Their relentless pursuit of the facts

enabled the SCIU to prove their suspicions of dangerous driving.

We reported to the courts that his speed was 94mph

and the defence accepted that.

At Nottingham Crown Court in July 2013,

Joseph Weston pleaded guilty to causing the death of Luke Winter

through dangerous driving.

The judge placed this offence in the most serious category

of causing death by dangerous driving.

There are three levels and he placed it in level one.

An appeal and reductions brought the penalty down in the end.

But the evidence gathered by the SCIU meant that the judge was able

to sentence for the more serious charge of dangerous driving,

starting with an initial term of nine years in jail.

What about that, eh?

The SCIU had succeeded in securing a conviction for dangerous driving

but for the family, the pain of Luke's death remains.

What's happened to our family has been devastating, and, uh...

what I'd say to any young person is...the carnage that you could

possibly leave behind by choosing to drive quickly

and recklessly just devastates people's lives,

probably your own life as well, and probably your own family's life.

So you just really need to consider

what the consequences possibly could be

before you decide to speed.

It's just days until Liam and Jodie's final tests.

Get that right...

In the Wirral, for once, Phil's in charge.

What's the dangers of this road?

Going round a bend, so you don't know what's round the corner.

Liam's personal coaches have been employing some...novel tools

to alert him to his speeding.

TOY SQUEAKS

What?

SHE LAUGHS

SQUEAKING

SQUEAK!

And Jodie's not shouting at Phil - that's a good sign.

OK, I'm going to pick a space...and I'm going to reverse into it.

Well done, you remembered to indicate.

Not bad!

That was good, then, I assessed the space.

Normally, I would've tried to get through,

it would've been a wing mirror incident.

But have they done enough to prove they've changed their ways?

I feel the prospect of doing a driving test nerve-racking,

despite all the practice I've been doing,

because it would be, like, total pressure to get things right.

The driving test, yeah - I mean, looking forward to it,

really, I like a challenge.

I don't know how well I'm going to do on it.

Sandra's a tough woman to please,

so...I'm hoping that I've done well enough to impress her.

It's the big day - Liam and Jodie are about to face their final challenges

in order to prove to their families that they are now safe on the road.

So we know that all of Jodie's driving habits

get a lot worse the busier the roads get.

So Sandra's setting her the ultimate driving challenge.

She's going to make her drive on the roads of the UK's busiest city -

London.

With over 2.5 million vehicles on London's roads,

this is going to be a real stretch for Jodie

and something she couldn't even have attempted a month ago.

-Watch out!

-BLEEP!

Then, she rarely remembered what her indicators were for.

CAR HORN BLARES

Ooh...

What was I supposed to do?!

Her favourite road position was frightening oncoming traffic...

She's right out to the right-hand side of the road.

..and after so many near misses,

her family worried it was only a matter of time

before she was involved in a nasty accident.

-Stop!

-I am stopping!

In central London, Jodie's about to start her test.

OK, so, if you're ready...

Let's drive.

-SIGHING DEEPLY:

-OK.

So what's Sandra going to be looking for in Jodie's test?

Sandra is looking for three key things from Jodie.

Is she concentrating on what she's doing?

Is she aware of what everyone else is doing?

And, crucially, can she cope with the stress of busy traffic

or will it still affect her driving?

Sandra's created a tough route to test Jodie's skills to the max.

She'll have to avoid taking in the many sights of Piccadilly Circus,

tackle a busy dual carriageway at Buckingham Palace

and the testing roads around Trafalgar Square...

..and all while keeping her cool -

something the old Jodie would have really struggled with.

# London calling to the faraway towns... #

That was a nice, slow stop -

you wouldn't have spilt any water then, Jodie.

Mm, and courtesy to other drivers - that's a big change.

Oh - she's concentrating so hard on what's ahead,

she hasn't noticed that lorry indicating.

But she's still uncommonly quiet -

the old Jodie would have been screaming by now.

While Jodie tackles the traffic,

in East Sussex, Liam's preparing to travel to London for his test.

It was Liam's bad attitude behind the wheel that was scaring his family.

Will you slow down a bit, please?

And we've seen the dangers caused by his love of speed

more than ably demonstrated...

He's just driven past that school at 50.

..from his aggressive driving on country roads...

-Was there any reason to overtake?

-Yeah.

..to shooting off at junctions.

We've lost him again.

Over the past few weeks, we've shown him what could happen

if his luck runs out.

-If that were children, though...

-He wouldn't have a chance.

..and taught him how to be a better, safer driver.

It's the difference between life or death.

But has it worked?

So, what about your test for Liam?

Well, Liam thinks he can handle his car -

he certainly doesn't have any problem with manoeuvres.

Now, if this was a traditional driving test,

I've no doubt Liam would stick to the speed limit.

So the question is, what is he like if we're not around?

We've led Liam to believe that when he gets here,

Sandra's got a test for him.

Uh-uh - not the case at all.

In actual fact, what Liam doesn't know

is that one of the cameras rigged in his car

also records his speed.

So Sandra will be able to monitor every second of his drive here.

Liam's driving on roads we know he's sped on in the past.

And I'm glad to see he's going at a safe speed

approaching these walkers. Good lad.

Back with Jodie, and for someone with distraction issues,

the city is offering many challenges.

Wow!

All right, Jodie. Eyes on the road.

She's definitely checking her rear-view mirror.

CAR HORN BEEPS

Oops, was that a bit of lane straddling?

But there's good work when it comes to staying out of the cycle box.

Are you aware of the building in front of you?

I didn't want to look at it too much cos

I don't want to lose concentration when the lights change.

Didn't want to look? Who is this woman?

That's it Jodie, keep breathing.

Liam's been driving for almost two hours,

and he's travelling through residential areas.

Oh, nicely done.

He wouldn't have been able to stop for that runner

if he'd been speeding.

It's just about keeping your eyes open at what's going off around you.

Isn't it?

And he did, didn't he?

Jodie's coming towards the end of her test now.

Would you like to stop halfway up the ramp for me.

I'd like you to stop there for me. Stop.

So, why have I asked you to stop here?

Cos you're going to make me do a hill start.

When you're ready, Jodie.

Drive on.

Yes! No egg on your face this time, Jodie.

Right, Jodie, that is the end of your test, so thank you.

How do you think it went?

I was nervous but I think it went OK.

I'm sure Phil wants to catch up with you,

so we'll let you go and talk to him and I'll catch up with you later.

-All right.

-Thank you.

At least Phil's feeling good.

I'm tremendously proud of the fact that she's actually driven

round central London, knowing how busy it is

and how difficult the traffic can be, and I'm amazed you came back.

Seriously, though. It's absolutely fantastic.

I'm not entirely surprised because I have seen a dramatic transformation

in Jodie's driving over the last couple of weeks.

Result!

Liam's arriving, and he's still got no idea that he's now actually

completed his challenge.

So, has he shown the attitude change that Sandra wants to see?

Liam, do us a favour, pass us that little box up there, please.

And jump on out.

Now, we asked you to come down here today to do a test.

You're not happy, are you? You're not happy at all. Why are you laughing?

He hates driving in London.

-So you're not looking forward to this test?

-No.

-OK.

-How long did it take you to get down here today?

-Too long.

-It took us about two and a half hours, didn't it?

-OK.

The good news is...

you haven't got to do that test of driving round London.

Why is that, then?

He's just done it, hasn't he?

The penny has just dropped.

You have just done your test.

This little box here has been recording your every move,

your speed and how you've been driving on the way down.

Sandra's going to analyse that.

You see, there's no point in getting you down here saying,

"We're going to get you to do a test," cos what would you do?

You'd drive all sensible, you'd do 28mph in a 30mph speed limit,

-you wouldn't be jumping any lights, would you?

-No.

You'd be on your best behaviour, Liam. We're not daft, you know.

Are you feeling confident?

Yeah, I'm always feeling confident.

I'm going to get it over to Sandra. Make yourselves comfy.

I hope I've done all right.

Sandra is a very tough woman to please,

so if I pass this I'd be very impressed with myself.

And so will we.

A short time later, and having reviewed the footage,

we're catching up with Sandra.

So, Sandra, what about Liam?

We all know what his problem was, don't we?

I've looked at Liam's video.

We know from when we saw him before he has a real issue with speed,

particularly on country roads.

But, Sandra, two and a half hours is an awful long time for someone

to stay within the speed limit.

Yes, but if he speeds, he fails.

And what about Jodie?

We know that she does get really distracted by pretty much

anything in the past.

You can't afford to make those sort of mistakes in a city like this,

-can you?

-Sandra, so, you know what you're going to say to Jodie?

-I do.

-Yeah?

-OK.

-And you know what you're going to tell Liam?

-Yes.

-Right, let's go.

Welcome, everybody.

So, you finished your final drive,

but it's up to Sandra to tell us whether you've passed or failed.

Let's start off with you, Liam. How do you think you've done?

I tried my best. Erm...

Yeah.

This very morning you were driving down a road.

That road didn't have a pavement.

Had you been speeding

we might have been dealing with a very nasty incident.

There was also an occasion when a runner ran right out in front of you.

Again, you weren't speeding. You were driving sensibly.

That runner will live to run another day.

Jodie, on your drive you did show real progress.

The old Jodie did love to shout at other drivers,

but this time you were much more courteous.

But there were still some issues.

Your observation wasn't quite up to scratch,

and you didn't see a big lorry indicating.

But you stayed out of the cycle junction boxes,

and finally, you coped really well in a very, very busy city.

Now, Liam, the question is - on your way down here today,

did you manage to keep your foot off the gas?

Don't know.

This is Sandra's test, so it's up to her whether you passed or failed.

Liam, your driving is now totally unrecognisable from the day

we first saw you when we actually couldn't even keep up with you.

That's a smile and a half, isn't it? Look!

The data recorder shows us that in the two and a half hours

it took you to get here today you didn't speed once.

You've shown that you can be a safe and courteous driver,

and on that basis I am happy to give you a pass.

-So congratulations.

-Wow!

-Thank you.

-Yeah!

-How do you feel, Janet?

-I'm really chuffed, yeah.

-Good.

OK, I can't cope with the tension any more.

-Jodie, are you confident or are you nervous?

-I'm nervous.

I really put a lot into it and I tried hard,

and I could concentrate better cos Phil wasn't in the car.

So overall...

Sandra...

did Jodie pass?

Jodie, you have made considerable improvements in your driving

since I saw you, but there is sometimes a lack of awareness

and anticipation of other road users.

However, I am happy to give you a pass.

Woohoo!

-You go, girl!

-But...

-Good job.

The but is that you do have to promise to continue the

practice with Phil regarding your homework and continued observations.

-Are you happy, Jodie?

-I'm made up, mate!

-I couldn't tell!

Phil did say if I passed he'd buy me a new car.

Jodie, straight to the car showroom.

I've learnt a lot from this.

Speed was my biggest issue and I think I've fixed it.

You know, he's grown up a lot in these last few weeks.

I'm really proud of him.

It's absolutely brilliant that you've improved your driving

to that standard, but there's more work to do.

Yeah, I know, but I still passed and you said I wouldn't!

-You did pass, that's true.

-It's great!

You know, that's two drivers who are now considerably safer on the roads.

But I think Jodie wins the prize for most improved

and definitely most enthusiastic.

Yeah, but hang on a second, Liam had to do a two and a half hour

driving test, and it's not a competition, Cherry!

-All right. Call it evens, yeah, just this time.

-OK.

I'm going to give you that one.

But there's plenty more people out there who could do with our help.

All right. Let's go. I'm driving, though.

Buckle up.