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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Police Chases Lead to Highway Fatalities; Speeding a Factor in Almost One Third of Highway Fatalities
Aired May 09, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening, everyone, from Los Angeles. Gunfire on the highways and the many other dangers you face every time you get into your car. A special edition of 360, "Life in the Fast Lane," starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: A string of deadly shootings on the freeways of Los Angeles. But are these mysterious killings random, or something more sinister? Tonight, why some say Los Angeles has become a stalking ground for a serial freeway killer.
High-speed hazards. Tonight, inside a high-speed police chase. Is the hunt worth the collateral damage?
A senseless act. Murder under the influence of alcohol. Coming up, fatal vision goggles. The new tool police are using to keep your roads sober.
A proud Marine returns safely from fighting a war in Iraq. Later murdered on the streets of Atlanta. Tonight, how a road rage altercation claimed the life of a young Marine that has family asking, why him?
And why are teenage drivers more likely to make riskier decisions than adult drivers? Tonight, a 360 report on how a teenager's brain is wired differently, and what you need to know to keep your kid safe behind the wheel.
Live from Los Angeles, this is a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360: "Life in the Fast Lane."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And good evening. Welcome to this special edition of 360 from L.A. It is here where America's obsession with cars is seen really in full force. Last year, nearly 43,000 of us died in car wrecks. That is more than were killed in plane crashes or boat accidents or by poison or drowning or fire. Arguably, the hour that we average in our cars every day, 55 minutes, that's the average, that's the most dangerous part of our day. And those statistics do not include things like the rash of freeway shootings that have hit this area, or high-speed pursuits like the one that happened not far from here just last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): A barrage of bullets fired by police. A dramatic end to a chase that at times seemed out of control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of here now!
COOPER: The incident began just 12 minutes earlier. Police officers in Compton responded to a call of shots fired. Apparently, they thought it might be gang-related. The white SUV resembled the vehicle involved in the shooting.
When the driver, 44-year-old Winston Hayes, allegedly failed to pull over, the chase began. Sometimes, it was fast. Other times, it crawled, with police and patrol cars keeping their distance from the suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch the strip! Watch the strip!
COOPER: The end would be just moments away. Here, it looks like the police are attempting to pin the SUV in. It comes to a full stop. Suddenly, gunfire begins.
Authorities do not know what led the deputies to open fire, but said they are looking at the tactics and, quote, "intensity" of what was going on."
A deputy was slightly wounded by what investigators believe could have been friendly fire. When it was over, the driver was taken to the hospital with minor wounds. He did not have a gun.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And of course, an investigation is still under way. Now, as we mentioned a moment ago, in and around Los Angeles, there's a high danger -- or a highway danger that has nothing to do with drunken driving or negligence or confusion or just dangerous conditions. These are not accidents we're talking about at all. We're talking about awful, deliberate killings, highway homicides that have people here very, very concerned.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMAL TUASON, BROTHER SHOT WHILE DRIVING: That's where my brother's at.
COOPER (voice-over): Even here, by his brother's grave, Jamal Tuason finds it hard to believe Jake is really dead.
TUASON: This was his high school picture, senior year. That's when he had long hair.
COOPER: Jake Tuason was 26. He was an engineer. And he loved cars and driving, especially in the fast lane.
His brother isn't sure exactly how Jake died. All he knows is that nearly two months ago, Jake got on the freeway. He never got off alive. TUASON: He was in that lane, the fast lane. And a witness just saw somebody just pull up right next to him, and he just noticed Jake's car go from the fast lane all the way to the junction lanes, and that's where he basically crashed.
COOPER (on camera): So the car hit this wall right here.
TUASON: This is his skidmark right here. So, yeah. This is where basically my brother ceased to exist.
COOPER: When paramedics arrived at the scene, Jake was in full cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped. They thought it was a traffic accident, tragic but routine. It was only when they got him to the hospital that doctors discovered a .22 caliber bullet. It was lodged in the left side of Jake's skull. He'd been shot. His death was no accident. It was a homicide.
(voice-over): In death, Jake Tuason became a statistic, the first L.A. freeway shooting fatality this year. He wasn't the last.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another freeway shooting is creating fear across the...
COOPER: Seventeen days later, Michael Livingston, a 20-year-old college student, was shot while driving. Then, James Wiggins was killed on his way to Bible study.
In the last two months, there have been at least eight shooting incidences on L.A. freeways. Four drivers are dead.
ASSISTANT CHIEF ART ACEVEDO, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: We believe these are random acts of violence, and to be quite truthful and frank with everyone, this is not that highly unusual.
COOPER: Police insist the number of shootings is on par with past years. However, the number of fatalities seems to have increased. Not all counties in Los Angeles release figures, but the city does. And in the last two months, they have suffered twice the number of fatalities than in all of 2004.
(on camera): The police say there's no reason for drivers to panic. There's no pattern that they can see in these recent highway shootings. All the victims have been different races, driving on different roads, shot with different guns. And it's very difficult for police to actually capture freeway shooters. Within seconds of an incident, the shooter can be long gone. So are any potential witnesses. And any evidence that's left behind, like a shell casing, that can get run over or simply blow away.
(voice-over): In Jake Tuason's case, police have no witnesses, no leads. He might have been shot after getting into an altercation with another driver, or he might have simply been randomly selected by a motorist, angry, armed and acting out.
Now, when Jake's brother Jamal drives, he worries about road rage. He's bought an extra large rearview mirror so he can see more of the traffic around him.
(on camera): What do people need to do differently?
TUASON: Well, what people need to do differently is exercise a little more patience. Responsibility to yourself and others on the road. It's something that's missing in today's driving.
COOPER (voice-over): While he waits for his brother's killer to be caught, he visits Jake's grave and silently watches the freeway. He likes to imagine Jake is watching it as well.
TUASON: It's good that he's here. That way, he can just oversee everything, kind of like being a guardian, you know, watching over others, not just myself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And as our special edition of 360 continues, every commuter's worst nightmare, road rage. Why it's getting worse, and the story of one soldier just home from war caught in the crossfire.
Also tonight, the art of the chase. Hot pursuit and new tricks that police are using to cut down on innocent victims.
Also ahead tonight, why putting on some beer goggles is more than a figure of speech. We warn you, do not try this at home.
All that ahead. First, here is a 360 road quiz for you. What percentage of all the deaths on the roads last year were due to speeding? Twelve, 31, or 62 percent? The answer after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Before the break we asked you, what percentage of all deaths on the road last year were due to speeding, the answer 31 percent. That's more than 13,000 people killed. One of the hazards to be found on any road in any state is the anger that we take with us when we get behind the wheel. A simple lane change at the wrong time and we might find another driver taking aim at us with a car or potentially something worse.
CNN's Gary Tuchman now has the story of one Marine. He lived through war in Iraq, but he did not survive the mean roadways of America.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jack Snook was a proud Marine serving on the front lines in the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was following in the footsteps of his father who served in Desert Storm.
PAT SNOOK, JACK SNOOK'S MOTHER: After living through it with my husband over there, having a son over there was a lot worse than I anticipated it being. TUCHMAN: But Jack made it home safely, and recently decided to leave the Marines so he could spend more time with the loves of his life, his 7-year-old daughter Mallory and his wife of three-and-a-half years, Cara.
CARA SNOOK, JACK SNOOK'S WIFE: He made a lot of people proud. He was a very good Marine. The best I know.
TUCHMAN: And that's why what happened to Jack has left his family and friends in disbelief. This Marine who survived the invasion of Iraq was shot to death while out with his wife for a night of celebration in downtown Atlanta.
BOB HAUSLEITER, JACK SNOOK'S GRANDFATHER: To be killed in your hometown after fighting in a foreign land is just -- I don't know. I don't even know if irony is strong enough. But it hurts.
TUCHMAN: Under arrest and charged with murder 23-year-old Charles Key. Police say he shot and killed Jack Snook after a road rage altercation. Reports of road rage incidents continue to climb every year according to the AAA. Over a recent five-year period they increased more than 50 percent.
PETER KISSINGER, AAA FDN. FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY: We did find that young male drivers had a tendency to be more involved in aggressive behaviors. However, having said that, there is no one single profile for an aggressive driver.
TUCHMAN: In this case police say the men exchanged gestures in their vehicle. And that Jack Snook and his wife both got out of his car. The suspect's lawyer says his client fired the gun to defend himself. Jack Snook's loved ones say it's an assassination.
CARA SNOOK: I can't comprehend it. I walk around my house and I keep waiting for him to walk through the front door, and he's not.
TUCHMAN: Cara Snook saw her husband die in her arms.
CARA SNOOK: When it first happened he turned around and said, I'm OK. And I looked at him and I knew he wasn't OK. Then when I was on the ground with him, I told him I loved him and he barely got it out. He held my hand and before he passed he squeezed it just a little.
TUCHMAN: At his funeral American flags were given to his daughter, his mother, and his wife.
CARA SNOOK: My heart was broken but I was so proud. I've always been proud of him. He's always been the biggest person in my mind. I mean to me it's just when I got it I just knew at that point that he's really gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will tell you that the D.A. has brought a charge against you and that charge here today is murder.
TUCHMAN: As Charles Key continues to be held without bond, Sergeant Snook's family seeks solace with each other.
CARA SNOOK: He had accomplished so much in his 24 years and there was so much more that he could do. And I don't understand why, you know, why he had to go. I'll never understand.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Such a terrible loss.
Returning war veterans are increasingly dying on America's roadways. Here's a quick news note, from October of 2003 to September of 2004, 132 soldiers died in vehicle accidents. Now that is a 28 percent jump from the previous year. Eighty of the soldiers killed were veterans of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. The Army fears the soldiers safe return from the war makes them feel invincible in a way, prompting them to perhaps drive too fast, sometimes even under the influence of alcohol.
Let's find out what else is happening right now cross country and around the world.
Christi Paul joins us from HEADLINE NEWS. Hey, Christi.
CHRISTI PAUL, HEADLINE NEWS: Hey, Anderson, good to see you.
President Bush is in the former Soviet republic of Georgia on the last stop of his five-day European trip. Now, before heading home tomorrow, he'll deliver a speech praising the spread of democracy in Georgia, which is trying to distance itself from the Kremlin.
The president traveled to Georgia from Moscow where he joined Russian President Vladimir Putin for a parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II.
In Zion, Illinois, autopsies are being performed on the bodies of two young girls who were found in a park. A passerby discovered the bodies this morning, about 15 hours after the girls disappeared while riding bikes together. The 8- and 9-year-old were both stabbed. Police are looking for a murder weapon.
And to Duluth, Georgia now. It's still unclear whether the runaway bride will face any charges. But the Gwinnett County D.A. says, Jennifer Wilbanks has three previous arrests, all for shoplifting between 1996 and 1998. The cases were prosecuted by then- Hall County D.A. Lydia Sartain, who is now, by the way, Wilbanks attorney, Anderson. Guess it's a small world in the legal world there.
Back to you.
COOPER: I suppose so. But who else knows her case better than the woman who prosecuted her, I guess. All right, Christi, thanks very much. We'll see you again in about 30 minutes. Coming up next, though, tonight on this special edition of 360, drunk driving. It is still plaguing our roads. How cops are hoping something called fatal vision goggles can fix the problem. I actually tried some of these on, and believe me you're going to want to some this. It mimics what it is like to be drunk. Yes, I know, I look like an idiot but it's interesting.
Also tonight fast and furious. Why do these people always think they're going to get away with it? High speed chases and the rules of engagement for police.
Also ahead tonight -- their brains are not fully formed, but they can still get a driver's license. We're talking about teen drivers and the hazards they pose to everyone. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back.
We're live in Los Angeles for this special edition of 360: "Life in the Fast Lane." Tonight, we're taking a close look at the hazards that all of us face every time we get behind the wheel. And we spend so much time behind the wheel, some 55 minutes, on average, every day. Now, the statistics tell us that, in just the last 30 minutes, two people have died somewhere in this country in car wrecks. Here's another statistics: every day, at least one person dies in the U.S. as a result of a high speed police chase.
CNN's Rick Sanchez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighty miles per hour in a 55.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the view from the other side, the view from inside a patrol car. The trooper has just spotted speeding driver. It's an instant adrenaline rush as the trooper takes pursuit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 252-238.
SANCHEZ: This driver stopped, but not all do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he'll make it across this median. Well, he made it across.
SANCHEZ: In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, just last week, this shirtless driver -- a robbery suspect who police say has just attacked two women -- runs from police in a stolen white pickup truck. He is seen drinking from a bottle...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's been totally erratic as to what he's been doing.
SANCHEZ: ...gesturing wildly at a helicopter camera. It's a high-speed procession along the Sodgrass Expressway. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!
SANCHEZ: He crosses the median, spins out several times, hits several cars. Finally, loses control and is taken down. This time no by-standers, no police, are seriously hurt, but the statistics are staggering.
According to the Highway Traffic Safety Administration, one person dies every day somewhere in the U.S. in a police pursuit, 375 people each and every year.
(on camera): Those are statistics, but there are people all over this country for whom this story cuts right to the core. In fact we found one such couple here in Georgia. For them, the story is not just a statistic.
SARA LUMLEY, MOTHER: He went to work one day and he didn't come back home, and I don't think they understand that till now. How do you explain (ph)? I don't understand it myself. How can they?
SANCHEZ: Sara Lumley is talking about the little girls her son has left behind. He was a Georgia state trooper whose patrol car rolled over and off the highway two years ago while chasing a felon, an armed robbery suspect.
LARRY SCHNAL, GEORGIA STATE TROOPER: Shots had been fired. He already eluded several different law enforcement officers. The trooper, Tony Lumley, motivated to do his job, intervened, attempted to stop this dangerous person and a tragedy came of it.
SANCHEZ: To learn more, we got in the car and took a ride with trooper Larry Schnal to get a better sense of how this can happen, to ask, when they chase, and when they don't.
Should you be approaching a school zone would you back off?
SCHNAL: Absolutely. You would terminate that pursuit. Any immediate risk to the public.
SANCHEZ: One of the best ways to stop a pursuit IS to use this. It's called a stop stick. Inside, underneath the cover, you find this plastic. Now, the plastic itself actually crumbles, but underneath the plastic there are jacks that create a puncture inside the tire of the person who's trying to get away. It's a puncture that create a slow leak. It does not create a blow-out, thereby not endangering the life either of the person who's driving the car, or people who may be around him at the time.
SCHNAL: As the pursuit is coming down the road, what we would do is quickly pull the device out, in a manner such as that so the suspect vehicle would strike it.
SANCHEZ: It's a maneuver that usually works. But when it doesn't, a much more dangerous high-speed technique must be used, one that requires nerves of steel and tons of skill. It is called a pit maneuver. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they spun him out.
SCHNAL: That's a maneuver in which we use our patrol car, slightly touching the violator's vehicle, spinning it out and disabling it.
SANCHEZ: Remember the Ft. Lauderdale chase? Police tried to stop that driver with that same maneuver. And, it's also the technique that trooper Lumley used the night he lost his life.
He was just doing his job, right?
SCHNAL: Absolutely. No idea that he would lose his life that night.
LUMLEY: Here's a picturee (ph) of Tony, with his two girls when they were smaller.
SANCHEZ: Pictures are all that Bill and Sara Lumley have left to remember their son, Tony, one, holding his baby daughter, another cutting up with his brother Tim, and the one his dad passes in the hallway every single day and night.
BILL LUMLEY, FATHER: Every day. Every morning. Every night. Every time I go to the bathroom. It's there.
SANCHEZ: And you think of him?
B. LUMLEY: Oh, yes, yes.
SANCHEZ: And you wish you could...
B. LUMLEY: Bring him back.
SANCHEZ: You wish you could have him back.
B. LUMLEY: Yep. But knowing you can't.
SANCHEZ: The pain felt by a father who's lost his son, and by a mother.
B. LUMLEY: I think of him every day. I think some days it's just about all I can do to make it through the day.
SANCHEZ: Mrs. Lumley cried. Mr. Lumley cried, and so did we, as did thousands of officers from around the state when Tony Lumley was laid to rest, following another procession. This one more somber. This one more slow.
B. LUMLEY: It's just like you're -- I don't know how to explain it. It's just like you are just suck into a hole and you are never coming out again, because what you love is gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (on camera): There you see the city of Atlanta behind us. We use it as a backdrop. It's one of the top four when it comes to traffic in the United States. Of course, the place where we're originating our show from today, Los Angeles, is at the very top of the list. You can imagine, as you look at places like this, how congested these roads are, how difficult and dangerous some of the chases can become with so many innocent by-standers.
As a matter of fact, 42 percent -- 42 percent -- of the people who are injured in police pursuits and in chases are innocent bystanders, people that had absolutely nothing to do with the pursuit itself. That's why so many states and communities are now trying to enact legislation, trying to get different ways to make sure that these things are much less dangerous. For example, Christie's Law in California, Anderson, where you are, a law that's, by the way, been defeated, now twice.
But what they're trying to do is come up with a way to standardize, so police officer know you can only chase if it's a violent offender that you're going after. If it's someone that has a driver's license issue, or perhaps a drunk driver, maybe you don't go after him. The second thing, of course, is to increase the penalty for some of these people so that they don't do it again. The third element, and this may be the most interesting of all, is that scientists are looking at the possibility of actually looking at ways, so that they can come up with ways police officers can use a little clicker to stop the engine of a car they are following. If they stop it, of course, the chase ends.
I'm Rick Sanchez. Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: Yes, Rick. You know, it's so easy, when we see these chases on television, to get caught up in the adrenaline of it all. And, you know, media definitely plays a role in all that. And if people think of it as a game -- it's not a game. People lose their lives, and as you said, a lot of those people are civilians, just innocent by-standers.
Coming up next on 360, fatal vision goggles. That's what police call them. They help cops prevent drinking and driving through education. You're going to want to see this. I'm falling down on the job for a reason. These glasses simulate what it's like to be two to three times above the legal limit. It's an amazing experience. We'll have that for you in just a moment.
Also ahead tonight -- it is not your father's driver's ed. The surprising things that kids have to go through to get their driver's license. This might actually make you feel safer on the road. Our special report continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back to this special edition of 360. You're looking at a live shot of the 101 Freeway. It is rush hour, traffic moving not too badly.
As rush hour and then nightfall descends on this California freeway system, the number of drunken drivers is going to increase. No doubt about it. And, of course, so will the accidents. The statistics drive home the point. The chances of being involved in a drunk driving crash are three times higher at night than they are during the day. Now, police are fighting back with a variety of tools, including a very simple pair of goggles that make you quickly understand just how hard it is to drive drunk. But for too many families, the help comes too late.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK BLAIR, DAUGHTER KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVER: We always thought that maybe there was going to be something very special about her, you know.
COOPER (voice-over): Nick and Donna Blair's daughter Lauren was only 18 on January 11th, 1998. She left their house in the early morning hours to drive a friend home. She never returned. Her parents had always called her their wish baby.
N. BLAIR: Our son Dougy was in the hospital and he was suffering from leukemia. And one day, he asked my wife and I, you know, mom, I'd like to have a baby sister. Lo and behold, Donna became pregnant, and we had a girl that November, and Lauren was born.
COOPER: On her way back home that morning, James Bent (ph), then 29 years old, ran a red light and broadsided her car. Lauren died instantly. Bent (ph) was driving with a blood alcohol level of 1.8, well above the now national legal limit of .08.
N. BLAIR: In his cab of his car, he had a six-pack of beer.
COOPER: Donna Blair had gone out to look for her daughter. She came upon the scene of the crash and heard the news from a local deputy sheriff.
DONNA BLAIR, DAUGHTER KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVER: I had my window down, and I turned the ignition off. And he just stared at me and started going, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. And it's like all of a sudden, I went numb. And he -- I realized what he was saying and I went, no! And I started screaming. I got out of the car, and I started to run.
COOPER: A senseless loss that thousands of others experience each year. In 2004 alone, 39 percent of traffic fatalities were alcohol-related. And according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1,626 alcohol-related deaths occurred here, on California's highways. That's the second highest in the nation, after Texas.
Law enforcement is working hard to help cut down on alcohol- related crashes, with tougher seatbelt laws and more visible checkpoints, but many agree education is the key to cutting down on drunk driving deaths.
SGT. DAVID FERRY, LAPD: The problem is it's not a crime that someone intends to start that day. You know, they go out and they might drink a little too much, use a little bit of poor judgment, and now they are under the influence of alcohol, and they use further poor judgment.
COOPER: This is just one of the educational tools used by the Los Angeles Police Department. It's a pair of fatal vision goggles, designed to show drivers what the world looks like and feels like when you are under the influence.
(on camera): These are technically beer goggles.
FERRY: Those are the proverbial beer goggles, yeah.
COOPER (voice-over): This first pair of goggles simulates what it is like to be just at or above the legal limit.
I tried playing catch. Walking the straight line.
(on camera): Oh, man.
(voice-over): Then another game of catch, with goggles simulating three times the legal limit.
It felt funny and looks silly. But in real life, people drive in this condition.
(on camera): Wow, that's incredible.
(voice-over): Because of one man's decision to drink and drive, Nick and Donna will never see their daughter graduate college. She will never realize her dream of playing professional softball. She'll never get married or have a family of her own.
N. BLAIR: It's just like a gnawing, deep gnawing inside of you. Because here you had your vibrant beautiful daughter, with all these things to look forward to in life, and all of a sudden she was gone, and she wasn't there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, coming up next on 360, teens and driving. See how your kids are wired to take more risks behind the wheel, and what they can do to be safer and how you can help them.
Also ahead tonight, defensive driving. Taking driver's ed to a whole new level. How one class may save your own life one day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back to the special edition of 360. "Life in the Fast Lane."
If you think that a lot of teens are on the road these days, you are definitely right. The government says there are 26 million teenage drivers in America, and they're more likely to make a mistake behind the wheel. But should part of the blame lie in biology?
CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a country road in the state of Maine, a teenage brain makes the wrong choice. A 16-year-old boy blows through a stop sign and then leads police on a high-speed chase that reaches 120 miles an hour.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roll over. Roll over.
COHEN: We'll show you what happens next in a moment.
Now, obviously this is an extreme case. But here's the question What's going on in a teenager's brain that could lead to such a bad decision? Dr. Lawrence Steinberg studies teens and decision-making.
DR. LAURENCE STEINBERG, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: There are changes in our brains around the time of puberty that make us want to take more risk, that make us want to seek higher and higher levels of stimulation.
COHEN (on camera): Their brains are just different from adult brains.
STEINBERG: Right, their brains are changing.
COHEN (voice-over): New research from the National Institutes of Health shows teen brains have extra synapses in the area responsible for assessing risks and making decisions. Many of these synapses are useless and actually get in the way of clear thinking. These extra synapses die off as teens become adults.
(on camera): So fewer synapses make things more efficient?
STEINBERG: Exactly.
COHEN: And that's a good thing?
STEINBERG: And that's a good thing. That's a very good thing.
COHEN (voice-over): Dr. Steinberg is trying to understand how teens like the one we saw in Maine make decisions. So he's developed a test.
STEINBERG: Let's start the game by hitting "G."
COHEN: Seventeen-year-old Justin Sloane (ph) has to decide if he can make it through an intersection before the yellow light turns to red. When teens play this game without their friends watching, they actually perform quite well. But, put other kids in the virtual car with them and look what happens.
Alex Weinberg (ph) turned around and looked at his friends as he drove. Then he did it again. And again. Three times his friends diverted his attention and he crashed. Dr. Steinberg's studies have found teens are much more likely to be distracted than adults are.
(on camera): What's going on in this 16-year-old cerebral cortex right here?
STEINBERG: Well, let's hope it's developing.
COHEN (voice-over): As for that 16-year-old fleeing from police...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out! Get out!
COHEN: ... he was lucky. He wasn't hurt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyone else in there?
COHEN: The teen didn't appear to be drunk or on drugs. He told the trooper he sped away simply because he didn't want to get a ticket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you running for? You almost hit me head on!
COHEN: The decision of a 16-year-old driver with too many synapses cluttering his brain.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: With a look at the world in 360, Christi Paul from HEADLINE NEWS joins us with the latest at about a quarter until the top of the hour. Hey, Christi.
PAUL: Hey, Anderson, good to see you.
In Liberty, Missouri, we start. A deadly school bus accident. Officials say the bus crashed into two cars, pushing them off a highway. The drivers of those cars were killed and at least 23 students on the bus were injured, two of them critically.
At the U.N., the International Atomic Energy Agency says it believes North Korea already has five to six nuclear weapons, and a nuclear test would open Pandora's Box. The Bush administration today offered to talk directly to North Korea and recognize its sovereignty in a push to keep it from testing the nuclear bombs.
And in Nairobi, Kenya, the 7-pound-4-ounce infant can thank a dog to be alive. A stray dog apparently found the baby girl abandoned in a forest then carried her across a busy road and through a bashed wire fence to a shed. Two children heard the baby's cries and discovered her nestled with a litter of pups. Gives new meaning to mans best friend, Anderson.
COOPER: See, that's why I love dogs. That's why I do. Thanks very much, Christi. Appreciate it.
Coming up next on 360 -- defensive driving taught on a racetrack. I know it sounds bizarre, but it actually could save your life. And a little bit later tonight, real "CSI-Miami." 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta takes us beyond the hit TV show to see what real-life homicide investigators face every day on the job and on the road.
All that ahead, but first a 360 road quiz. Who do you think spends more time on the road driving each day, men or women? We'll tell you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back. We are live in Los Angeles. The answer to the quiz, who do you think spends more time on the road each day, men or women? The answer is that men do. They drive 67 minutes per day; women drive 44.
There are an awful lot of what-ifs in life, and especially in life on the road at high speeds with other cars whizzing by you, left and right, and appearing suddenly in your lane. Experience prepares you for some what-ifs, but how do you get the experience without risking your neck, especially if you are a young person?
CNN's Sharon Collins reports on a program that lets teenagers face driving dangers without deadly consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHARON COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elizabeth Graper is leaving school early. It is one of those red letter days on any teenager's calendar, Elizabeth is on her way to take her driving test. She hopes to get her license today.
ELIZABETH GRAPER, TEEN DRIVER: A little nervous. But a lot of my friends have already done it.
COLLINS: Elizabeth took Driver's Ed at her high school, and she spent time driving with her mom at her side.
SHARON GRAPER, ELIZABETH GRAPER'S MOTHER: Lizzie, you need to pay attention, honey.
E. GRAPER: It's 25.
S. GRAPER: Yes, and how fast are you going?
E. GRAPER: Forty.
COLLINS: But Elizabeth also did a little something extra -- something that would ordinarily horrify any parent.
E. GRAPER: That's what you do!
COLLINS: It's called Xtreme Measures, a new breed of driving schools springing up around the country. Today's class is held at a race track in Charlotte, North Carolina. Carl Kircher started Xtreme Measures six years ago after an accident that still haunts him today. CARL KIRCHER, XTREME MEASURES: One of my older daughter's best friends got killed. She got two wheels off the side of the road, over-corrected, hit a tree. And I knew right then that there had to be something that I could do that was going to help you guys get through. Get the car to slide. Get it to slide. Get it to slide.
COLLINS: Kircher has worked around auto racing all of his life. His classes apply lessons learned on the racetrack to emergencies encountered in everyday driving situations.
KIRCHER: You can't just take your child in a parking lot and show them defensive maneuvers, car control maneuvers as they did when I grew up. You can't do that anymore. So we provide them a place to learn how to do that at our expense in an oops-free environment so that they can learn what we've learned over 30 years of driving.
COLLINS: The teens practice recovering from skids, handling the car when it runs off the road and avoiding obstacles. His course is not a replacement for the basics of driver's ed, but it does teach students skills they wouldn't learn in a typical course.
S. GRAPER: I felt like I wanted Elizabeth to have some experience in extreme conditions so that she would know what to do if she was in that circumstance.
COLLINS: After a day of driving on the Xtreme course, Elizabeth felt pretty good about what she'd learned.
(on camera): So you think you got it down?
E. GRAPER: Yes.
COLLINS (voice-over): But would it help her get a license? After her driving test, she feels pretty confident.
(on camera): How did you do?
E. GRAPER: I think I did OK.
COLLINS: Did you? Well, good.
(voice-over): But the news is disappointing.
E. GRAPER: I didn't get it.
COLLINS: Twice Elizabeth turned into the wrong lane. A relatively minor mistake, but one that could easily cause an accident. And a reminder of how even the best-prepared teenager won't always make the right call.
Sharon Collins, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Man, I would like to take that extreme driving course. Coming up next on this special edition of 360, real "CSI: Miami." Not the TV show -- our 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta takes us on the road inside the real-life effort to solve murders.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, of course, you've probably seen "CSI: Miami." Each week, David Caruso and his team of police investigators solve a crime in Miami. They do it in glamour and style and in under an hour. In reality, of course, homicide detectives don't have the luxury of a script. That doesn't mean their job is any less dramatic. In fact, it's probably more so. All this week, 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta reports on the life and times of the real C.S.I.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSEPH SCHILLACI, MIAMI POLICE DEPT HOMICIDE INVESTIGATOR: When I look at his nails, I see his nails are long, how they're not broken. We look for obvious signs of trauma.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, 360 M.D.: For "CSI: Miami" there's a lot of snapshots and flashlights at murder scenes.
SCHILLACI: OK, you got it.
GUPTA: But, in the real world, a homicide detective has a variety of duties from the exciting to the mundane.
Sergeant Joe Schillaci of the Miami city homicide takes us through on a routine ride through the Overton area of Miami. In real life, CSI investigators learn the streets.
SCHILLACI: She is coming in the area to buy. Right now. Yes. Look at this. This kills me. I'm getting out on this one.
GUPTA: Suddenly, Schillaci, a father of two himself, stops, not to arrest, but to counsel a teenage heroin user.
SCHILLACI: You are a very pretty young lady. I hate to see you in the mix. How long have you been using?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three years, on and off.
SCHILLACI: Listen, I handled 10, 10 overdoses, in this area in the last six months. If you don't do something, you are going to be 11.
Just that one person, if I can make a difference in that one person's life, then I achieved my ultimate goal out here.
OK, you got it, I'll be there in a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, thank you.
SCHILLACI: We got a case. It's a death investigation.
GUPTA: Next stop, an apartment. An elderly man is found dead on his couch.
SCHILLACI: When was the last time he was seen alive?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just took him some food yesterday. He didn't say anything to me that he was -- he didn't feel good.
GUPTA: In Miami, detectives don't just investigate homicides. They cover natural deaths, as well, and they make sure there's no foul play involved.
SCHILLACI: Poor guy went to sleep and...
GUPTA: A little different than on the CSI shows, where solving dramatic murders is all there is.
SCHILLACI: I need you to come to the office. Can you come to the office?
GUPTA: Back in Miami, Schillaci gets a phone call that changes his life.
SCHILLACI: I'm going to interrupt you. It's official. I've been made.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's been made! He's a lieutenant!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love it! Congratulations. Are you serious?
GUPTA: A call to his wife.
SCHILLACI: You are now Mrs. Lieutenant Joseph Schillaci.
EVELYN SCHILLACI, WIFE: Really? Already?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations!
GUPTA: As the day winds down, Schillaci and his wife Evelyn toast the promotion, but remember the tough times in real life CSI, the dangerous cases, sudden calls and long waits.
Schillaci says the biggest difference between "CSI," the TV show, and reality, is real life.
SCHILLACI: It's not the same, when you are on the scene, trying to console a mother of a child that's been murdered. That's reality. That's what we, the real investigators, have to live with. There's no turning it off. There's no changing the channel if you don't like what you're seeing.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Don't miss Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special report "Anatomy of Murder." It's going to be this Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
Thanks for watching this special edition of 360. I'm Anderson Cooper. CNN's prime time coverage continues with "PAULA ZAHN NOW." END TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 9, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening, everyone, from Los Angeles. Gunfire on the highways and the many other dangers you face every time you get into your car. A special edition of 360, "Life in the Fast Lane," starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: A string of deadly shootings on the freeways of Los Angeles. But are these mysterious killings random, or something more sinister? Tonight, why some say Los Angeles has become a stalking ground for a serial freeway killer.
High-speed hazards. Tonight, inside a high-speed police chase. Is the hunt worth the collateral damage?
A senseless act. Murder under the influence of alcohol. Coming up, fatal vision goggles. The new tool police are using to keep your roads sober.
A proud Marine returns safely from fighting a war in Iraq. Later murdered on the streets of Atlanta. Tonight, how a road rage altercation claimed the life of a young Marine that has family asking, why him?
And why are teenage drivers more likely to make riskier decisions than adult drivers? Tonight, a 360 report on how a teenager's brain is wired differently, and what you need to know to keep your kid safe behind the wheel.
Live from Los Angeles, this is a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360: "Life in the Fast Lane."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And good evening. Welcome to this special edition of 360 from L.A. It is here where America's obsession with cars is seen really in full force. Last year, nearly 43,000 of us died in car wrecks. That is more than were killed in plane crashes or boat accidents or by poison or drowning or fire. Arguably, the hour that we average in our cars every day, 55 minutes, that's the average, that's the most dangerous part of our day. And those statistics do not include things like the rash of freeway shootings that have hit this area, or high-speed pursuits like the one that happened not far from here just last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): A barrage of bullets fired by police. A dramatic end to a chase that at times seemed out of control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of here now!
COOPER: The incident began just 12 minutes earlier. Police officers in Compton responded to a call of shots fired. Apparently, they thought it might be gang-related. The white SUV resembled the vehicle involved in the shooting.
When the driver, 44-year-old Winston Hayes, allegedly failed to pull over, the chase began. Sometimes, it was fast. Other times, it crawled, with police and patrol cars keeping their distance from the suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch the strip! Watch the strip!
COOPER: The end would be just moments away. Here, it looks like the police are attempting to pin the SUV in. It comes to a full stop. Suddenly, gunfire begins.
Authorities do not know what led the deputies to open fire, but said they are looking at the tactics and, quote, "intensity" of what was going on."
A deputy was slightly wounded by what investigators believe could have been friendly fire. When it was over, the driver was taken to the hospital with minor wounds. He did not have a gun.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And of course, an investigation is still under way. Now, as we mentioned a moment ago, in and around Los Angeles, there's a high danger -- or a highway danger that has nothing to do with drunken driving or negligence or confusion or just dangerous conditions. These are not accidents we're talking about at all. We're talking about awful, deliberate killings, highway homicides that have people here very, very concerned.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMAL TUASON, BROTHER SHOT WHILE DRIVING: That's where my brother's at.
COOPER (voice-over): Even here, by his brother's grave, Jamal Tuason finds it hard to believe Jake is really dead.
TUASON: This was his high school picture, senior year. That's when he had long hair.
COOPER: Jake Tuason was 26. He was an engineer. And he loved cars and driving, especially in the fast lane.
His brother isn't sure exactly how Jake died. All he knows is that nearly two months ago, Jake got on the freeway. He never got off alive. TUASON: He was in that lane, the fast lane. And a witness just saw somebody just pull up right next to him, and he just noticed Jake's car go from the fast lane all the way to the junction lanes, and that's where he basically crashed.
COOPER (on camera): So the car hit this wall right here.
TUASON: This is his skidmark right here. So, yeah. This is where basically my brother ceased to exist.
COOPER: When paramedics arrived at the scene, Jake was in full cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped. They thought it was a traffic accident, tragic but routine. It was only when they got him to the hospital that doctors discovered a .22 caliber bullet. It was lodged in the left side of Jake's skull. He'd been shot. His death was no accident. It was a homicide.
(voice-over): In death, Jake Tuason became a statistic, the first L.A. freeway shooting fatality this year. He wasn't the last.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another freeway shooting is creating fear across the...
COOPER: Seventeen days later, Michael Livingston, a 20-year-old college student, was shot while driving. Then, James Wiggins was killed on his way to Bible study.
In the last two months, there have been at least eight shooting incidences on L.A. freeways. Four drivers are dead.
ASSISTANT CHIEF ART ACEVEDO, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: We believe these are random acts of violence, and to be quite truthful and frank with everyone, this is not that highly unusual.
COOPER: Police insist the number of shootings is on par with past years. However, the number of fatalities seems to have increased. Not all counties in Los Angeles release figures, but the city does. And in the last two months, they have suffered twice the number of fatalities than in all of 2004.
(on camera): The police say there's no reason for drivers to panic. There's no pattern that they can see in these recent highway shootings. All the victims have been different races, driving on different roads, shot with different guns. And it's very difficult for police to actually capture freeway shooters. Within seconds of an incident, the shooter can be long gone. So are any potential witnesses. And any evidence that's left behind, like a shell casing, that can get run over or simply blow away.
(voice-over): In Jake Tuason's case, police have no witnesses, no leads. He might have been shot after getting into an altercation with another driver, or he might have simply been randomly selected by a motorist, angry, armed and acting out.
Now, when Jake's brother Jamal drives, he worries about road rage. He's bought an extra large rearview mirror so he can see more of the traffic around him.
(on camera): What do people need to do differently?
TUASON: Well, what people need to do differently is exercise a little more patience. Responsibility to yourself and others on the road. It's something that's missing in today's driving.
COOPER (voice-over): While he waits for his brother's killer to be caught, he visits Jake's grave and silently watches the freeway. He likes to imagine Jake is watching it as well.
TUASON: It's good that he's here. That way, he can just oversee everything, kind of like being a guardian, you know, watching over others, not just myself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And as our special edition of 360 continues, every commuter's worst nightmare, road rage. Why it's getting worse, and the story of one soldier just home from war caught in the crossfire.
Also tonight, the art of the chase. Hot pursuit and new tricks that police are using to cut down on innocent victims.
Also ahead tonight, why putting on some beer goggles is more than a figure of speech. We warn you, do not try this at home.
All that ahead. First, here is a 360 road quiz for you. What percentage of all the deaths on the roads last year were due to speeding? Twelve, 31, or 62 percent? The answer after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Before the break we asked you, what percentage of all deaths on the road last year were due to speeding, the answer 31 percent. That's more than 13,000 people killed. One of the hazards to be found on any road in any state is the anger that we take with us when we get behind the wheel. A simple lane change at the wrong time and we might find another driver taking aim at us with a car or potentially something worse.
CNN's Gary Tuchman now has the story of one Marine. He lived through war in Iraq, but he did not survive the mean roadways of America.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jack Snook was a proud Marine serving on the front lines in the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was following in the footsteps of his father who served in Desert Storm.
PAT SNOOK, JACK SNOOK'S MOTHER: After living through it with my husband over there, having a son over there was a lot worse than I anticipated it being. TUCHMAN: But Jack made it home safely, and recently decided to leave the Marines so he could spend more time with the loves of his life, his 7-year-old daughter Mallory and his wife of three-and-a-half years, Cara.
CARA SNOOK, JACK SNOOK'S WIFE: He made a lot of people proud. He was a very good Marine. The best I know.
TUCHMAN: And that's why what happened to Jack has left his family and friends in disbelief. This Marine who survived the invasion of Iraq was shot to death while out with his wife for a night of celebration in downtown Atlanta.
BOB HAUSLEITER, JACK SNOOK'S GRANDFATHER: To be killed in your hometown after fighting in a foreign land is just -- I don't know. I don't even know if irony is strong enough. But it hurts.
TUCHMAN: Under arrest and charged with murder 23-year-old Charles Key. Police say he shot and killed Jack Snook after a road rage altercation. Reports of road rage incidents continue to climb every year according to the AAA. Over a recent five-year period they increased more than 50 percent.
PETER KISSINGER, AAA FDN. FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY: We did find that young male drivers had a tendency to be more involved in aggressive behaviors. However, having said that, there is no one single profile for an aggressive driver.
TUCHMAN: In this case police say the men exchanged gestures in their vehicle. And that Jack Snook and his wife both got out of his car. The suspect's lawyer says his client fired the gun to defend himself. Jack Snook's loved ones say it's an assassination.
CARA SNOOK: I can't comprehend it. I walk around my house and I keep waiting for him to walk through the front door, and he's not.
TUCHMAN: Cara Snook saw her husband die in her arms.
CARA SNOOK: When it first happened he turned around and said, I'm OK. And I looked at him and I knew he wasn't OK. Then when I was on the ground with him, I told him I loved him and he barely got it out. He held my hand and before he passed he squeezed it just a little.
TUCHMAN: At his funeral American flags were given to his daughter, his mother, and his wife.
CARA SNOOK: My heart was broken but I was so proud. I've always been proud of him. He's always been the biggest person in my mind. I mean to me it's just when I got it I just knew at that point that he's really gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will tell you that the D.A. has brought a charge against you and that charge here today is murder.
TUCHMAN: As Charles Key continues to be held without bond, Sergeant Snook's family seeks solace with each other.
CARA SNOOK: He had accomplished so much in his 24 years and there was so much more that he could do. And I don't understand why, you know, why he had to go. I'll never understand.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Such a terrible loss.
Returning war veterans are increasingly dying on America's roadways. Here's a quick news note, from October of 2003 to September of 2004, 132 soldiers died in vehicle accidents. Now that is a 28 percent jump from the previous year. Eighty of the soldiers killed were veterans of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. The Army fears the soldiers safe return from the war makes them feel invincible in a way, prompting them to perhaps drive too fast, sometimes even under the influence of alcohol.
Let's find out what else is happening right now cross country and around the world.
Christi Paul joins us from HEADLINE NEWS. Hey, Christi.
CHRISTI PAUL, HEADLINE NEWS: Hey, Anderson, good to see you.
President Bush is in the former Soviet republic of Georgia on the last stop of his five-day European trip. Now, before heading home tomorrow, he'll deliver a speech praising the spread of democracy in Georgia, which is trying to distance itself from the Kremlin.
The president traveled to Georgia from Moscow where he joined Russian President Vladimir Putin for a parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II.
In Zion, Illinois, autopsies are being performed on the bodies of two young girls who were found in a park. A passerby discovered the bodies this morning, about 15 hours after the girls disappeared while riding bikes together. The 8- and 9-year-old were both stabbed. Police are looking for a murder weapon.
And to Duluth, Georgia now. It's still unclear whether the runaway bride will face any charges. But the Gwinnett County D.A. says, Jennifer Wilbanks has three previous arrests, all for shoplifting between 1996 and 1998. The cases were prosecuted by then- Hall County D.A. Lydia Sartain, who is now, by the way, Wilbanks attorney, Anderson. Guess it's a small world in the legal world there.
Back to you.
COOPER: I suppose so. But who else knows her case better than the woman who prosecuted her, I guess. All right, Christi, thanks very much. We'll see you again in about 30 minutes. Coming up next, though, tonight on this special edition of 360, drunk driving. It is still plaguing our roads. How cops are hoping something called fatal vision goggles can fix the problem. I actually tried some of these on, and believe me you're going to want to some this. It mimics what it is like to be drunk. Yes, I know, I look like an idiot but it's interesting.
Also tonight fast and furious. Why do these people always think they're going to get away with it? High speed chases and the rules of engagement for police.
Also ahead tonight -- their brains are not fully formed, but they can still get a driver's license. We're talking about teen drivers and the hazards they pose to everyone. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back.
We're live in Los Angeles for this special edition of 360: "Life in the Fast Lane." Tonight, we're taking a close look at the hazards that all of us face every time we get behind the wheel. And we spend so much time behind the wheel, some 55 minutes, on average, every day. Now, the statistics tell us that, in just the last 30 minutes, two people have died somewhere in this country in car wrecks. Here's another statistics: every day, at least one person dies in the U.S. as a result of a high speed police chase.
CNN's Rick Sanchez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighty miles per hour in a 55.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the view from the other side, the view from inside a patrol car. The trooper has just spotted speeding driver. It's an instant adrenaline rush as the trooper takes pursuit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 252-238.
SANCHEZ: This driver stopped, but not all do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he'll make it across this median. Well, he made it across.
SANCHEZ: In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, just last week, this shirtless driver -- a robbery suspect who police say has just attacked two women -- runs from police in a stolen white pickup truck. He is seen drinking from a bottle...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's been totally erratic as to what he's been doing.
SANCHEZ: ...gesturing wildly at a helicopter camera. It's a high-speed procession along the Sodgrass Expressway. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!
SANCHEZ: He crosses the median, spins out several times, hits several cars. Finally, loses control and is taken down. This time no by-standers, no police, are seriously hurt, but the statistics are staggering.
According to the Highway Traffic Safety Administration, one person dies every day somewhere in the U.S. in a police pursuit, 375 people each and every year.
(on camera): Those are statistics, but there are people all over this country for whom this story cuts right to the core. In fact we found one such couple here in Georgia. For them, the story is not just a statistic.
SARA LUMLEY, MOTHER: He went to work one day and he didn't come back home, and I don't think they understand that till now. How do you explain (ph)? I don't understand it myself. How can they?
SANCHEZ: Sara Lumley is talking about the little girls her son has left behind. He was a Georgia state trooper whose patrol car rolled over and off the highway two years ago while chasing a felon, an armed robbery suspect.
LARRY SCHNAL, GEORGIA STATE TROOPER: Shots had been fired. He already eluded several different law enforcement officers. The trooper, Tony Lumley, motivated to do his job, intervened, attempted to stop this dangerous person and a tragedy came of it.
SANCHEZ: To learn more, we got in the car and took a ride with trooper Larry Schnal to get a better sense of how this can happen, to ask, when they chase, and when they don't.
Should you be approaching a school zone would you back off?
SCHNAL: Absolutely. You would terminate that pursuit. Any immediate risk to the public.
SANCHEZ: One of the best ways to stop a pursuit IS to use this. It's called a stop stick. Inside, underneath the cover, you find this plastic. Now, the plastic itself actually crumbles, but underneath the plastic there are jacks that create a puncture inside the tire of the person who's trying to get away. It's a puncture that create a slow leak. It does not create a blow-out, thereby not endangering the life either of the person who's driving the car, or people who may be around him at the time.
SCHNAL: As the pursuit is coming down the road, what we would do is quickly pull the device out, in a manner such as that so the suspect vehicle would strike it.
SANCHEZ: It's a maneuver that usually works. But when it doesn't, a much more dangerous high-speed technique must be used, one that requires nerves of steel and tons of skill. It is called a pit maneuver. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they spun him out.
SCHNAL: That's a maneuver in which we use our patrol car, slightly touching the violator's vehicle, spinning it out and disabling it.
SANCHEZ: Remember the Ft. Lauderdale chase? Police tried to stop that driver with that same maneuver. And, it's also the technique that trooper Lumley used the night he lost his life.
He was just doing his job, right?
SCHNAL: Absolutely. No idea that he would lose his life that night.
LUMLEY: Here's a picturee (ph) of Tony, with his two girls when they were smaller.
SANCHEZ: Pictures are all that Bill and Sara Lumley have left to remember their son, Tony, one, holding his baby daughter, another cutting up with his brother Tim, and the one his dad passes in the hallway every single day and night.
BILL LUMLEY, FATHER: Every day. Every morning. Every night. Every time I go to the bathroom. It's there.
SANCHEZ: And you think of him?
B. LUMLEY: Oh, yes, yes.
SANCHEZ: And you wish you could...
B. LUMLEY: Bring him back.
SANCHEZ: You wish you could have him back.
B. LUMLEY: Yep. But knowing you can't.
SANCHEZ: The pain felt by a father who's lost his son, and by a mother.
B. LUMLEY: I think of him every day. I think some days it's just about all I can do to make it through the day.
SANCHEZ: Mrs. Lumley cried. Mr. Lumley cried, and so did we, as did thousands of officers from around the state when Tony Lumley was laid to rest, following another procession. This one more somber. This one more slow.
B. LUMLEY: It's just like you're -- I don't know how to explain it. It's just like you are just suck into a hole and you are never coming out again, because what you love is gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (on camera): There you see the city of Atlanta behind us. We use it as a backdrop. It's one of the top four when it comes to traffic in the United States. Of course, the place where we're originating our show from today, Los Angeles, is at the very top of the list. You can imagine, as you look at places like this, how congested these roads are, how difficult and dangerous some of the chases can become with so many innocent by-standers.
As a matter of fact, 42 percent -- 42 percent -- of the people who are injured in police pursuits and in chases are innocent bystanders, people that had absolutely nothing to do with the pursuit itself. That's why so many states and communities are now trying to enact legislation, trying to get different ways to make sure that these things are much less dangerous. For example, Christie's Law in California, Anderson, where you are, a law that's, by the way, been defeated, now twice.
But what they're trying to do is come up with a way to standardize, so police officer know you can only chase if it's a violent offender that you're going after. If it's someone that has a driver's license issue, or perhaps a drunk driver, maybe you don't go after him. The second thing, of course, is to increase the penalty for some of these people so that they don't do it again. The third element, and this may be the most interesting of all, is that scientists are looking at the possibility of actually looking at ways, so that they can come up with ways police officers can use a little clicker to stop the engine of a car they are following. If they stop it, of course, the chase ends.
I'm Rick Sanchez. Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: Yes, Rick. You know, it's so easy, when we see these chases on television, to get caught up in the adrenaline of it all. And, you know, media definitely plays a role in all that. And if people think of it as a game -- it's not a game. People lose their lives, and as you said, a lot of those people are civilians, just innocent by-standers.
Coming up next on 360, fatal vision goggles. That's what police call them. They help cops prevent drinking and driving through education. You're going to want to see this. I'm falling down on the job for a reason. These glasses simulate what it's like to be two to three times above the legal limit. It's an amazing experience. We'll have that for you in just a moment.
Also ahead tonight -- it is not your father's driver's ed. The surprising things that kids have to go through to get their driver's license. This might actually make you feel safer on the road. Our special report continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back to this special edition of 360. You're looking at a live shot of the 101 Freeway. It is rush hour, traffic moving not too badly.
As rush hour and then nightfall descends on this California freeway system, the number of drunken drivers is going to increase. No doubt about it. And, of course, so will the accidents. The statistics drive home the point. The chances of being involved in a drunk driving crash are three times higher at night than they are during the day. Now, police are fighting back with a variety of tools, including a very simple pair of goggles that make you quickly understand just how hard it is to drive drunk. But for too many families, the help comes too late.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK BLAIR, DAUGHTER KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVER: We always thought that maybe there was going to be something very special about her, you know.
COOPER (voice-over): Nick and Donna Blair's daughter Lauren was only 18 on January 11th, 1998. She left their house in the early morning hours to drive a friend home. She never returned. Her parents had always called her their wish baby.
N. BLAIR: Our son Dougy was in the hospital and he was suffering from leukemia. And one day, he asked my wife and I, you know, mom, I'd like to have a baby sister. Lo and behold, Donna became pregnant, and we had a girl that November, and Lauren was born.
COOPER: On her way back home that morning, James Bent (ph), then 29 years old, ran a red light and broadsided her car. Lauren died instantly. Bent (ph) was driving with a blood alcohol level of 1.8, well above the now national legal limit of .08.
N. BLAIR: In his cab of his car, he had a six-pack of beer.
COOPER: Donna Blair had gone out to look for her daughter. She came upon the scene of the crash and heard the news from a local deputy sheriff.
DONNA BLAIR, DAUGHTER KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVER: I had my window down, and I turned the ignition off. And he just stared at me and started going, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. And it's like all of a sudden, I went numb. And he -- I realized what he was saying and I went, no! And I started screaming. I got out of the car, and I started to run.
COOPER: A senseless loss that thousands of others experience each year. In 2004 alone, 39 percent of traffic fatalities were alcohol-related. And according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1,626 alcohol-related deaths occurred here, on California's highways. That's the second highest in the nation, after Texas.
Law enforcement is working hard to help cut down on alcohol- related crashes, with tougher seatbelt laws and more visible checkpoints, but many agree education is the key to cutting down on drunk driving deaths.
SGT. DAVID FERRY, LAPD: The problem is it's not a crime that someone intends to start that day. You know, they go out and they might drink a little too much, use a little bit of poor judgment, and now they are under the influence of alcohol, and they use further poor judgment.
COOPER: This is just one of the educational tools used by the Los Angeles Police Department. It's a pair of fatal vision goggles, designed to show drivers what the world looks like and feels like when you are under the influence.
(on camera): These are technically beer goggles.
FERRY: Those are the proverbial beer goggles, yeah.
COOPER (voice-over): This first pair of goggles simulates what it is like to be just at or above the legal limit.
I tried playing catch. Walking the straight line.
(on camera): Oh, man.
(voice-over): Then another game of catch, with goggles simulating three times the legal limit.
It felt funny and looks silly. But in real life, people drive in this condition.
(on camera): Wow, that's incredible.
(voice-over): Because of one man's decision to drink and drive, Nick and Donna will never see their daughter graduate college. She will never realize her dream of playing professional softball. She'll never get married or have a family of her own.
N. BLAIR: It's just like a gnawing, deep gnawing inside of you. Because here you had your vibrant beautiful daughter, with all these things to look forward to in life, and all of a sudden she was gone, and she wasn't there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, coming up next on 360, teens and driving. See how your kids are wired to take more risks behind the wheel, and what they can do to be safer and how you can help them.
Also ahead tonight, defensive driving. Taking driver's ed to a whole new level. How one class may save your own life one day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back to the special edition of 360. "Life in the Fast Lane."
If you think that a lot of teens are on the road these days, you are definitely right. The government says there are 26 million teenage drivers in America, and they're more likely to make a mistake behind the wheel. But should part of the blame lie in biology?
CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a country road in the state of Maine, a teenage brain makes the wrong choice. A 16-year-old boy blows through a stop sign and then leads police on a high-speed chase that reaches 120 miles an hour.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roll over. Roll over.
COHEN: We'll show you what happens next in a moment.
Now, obviously this is an extreme case. But here's the question What's going on in a teenager's brain that could lead to such a bad decision? Dr. Lawrence Steinberg studies teens and decision-making.
DR. LAURENCE STEINBERG, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: There are changes in our brains around the time of puberty that make us want to take more risk, that make us want to seek higher and higher levels of stimulation.
COHEN (on camera): Their brains are just different from adult brains.
STEINBERG: Right, their brains are changing.
COHEN (voice-over): New research from the National Institutes of Health shows teen brains have extra synapses in the area responsible for assessing risks and making decisions. Many of these synapses are useless and actually get in the way of clear thinking. These extra synapses die off as teens become adults.
(on camera): So fewer synapses make things more efficient?
STEINBERG: Exactly.
COHEN: And that's a good thing?
STEINBERG: And that's a good thing. That's a very good thing.
COHEN (voice-over): Dr. Steinberg is trying to understand how teens like the one we saw in Maine make decisions. So he's developed a test.
STEINBERG: Let's start the game by hitting "G."
COHEN: Seventeen-year-old Justin Sloane (ph) has to decide if he can make it through an intersection before the yellow light turns to red. When teens play this game without their friends watching, they actually perform quite well. But, put other kids in the virtual car with them and look what happens.
Alex Weinberg (ph) turned around and looked at his friends as he drove. Then he did it again. And again. Three times his friends diverted his attention and he crashed. Dr. Steinberg's studies have found teens are much more likely to be distracted than adults are.
(on camera): What's going on in this 16-year-old cerebral cortex right here?
STEINBERG: Well, let's hope it's developing.
COHEN (voice-over): As for that 16-year-old fleeing from police...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out! Get out!
COHEN: ... he was lucky. He wasn't hurt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyone else in there?
COHEN: The teen didn't appear to be drunk or on drugs. He told the trooper he sped away simply because he didn't want to get a ticket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you running for? You almost hit me head on!
COHEN: The decision of a 16-year-old driver with too many synapses cluttering his brain.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: With a look at the world in 360, Christi Paul from HEADLINE NEWS joins us with the latest at about a quarter until the top of the hour. Hey, Christi.
PAUL: Hey, Anderson, good to see you.
In Liberty, Missouri, we start. A deadly school bus accident. Officials say the bus crashed into two cars, pushing them off a highway. The drivers of those cars were killed and at least 23 students on the bus were injured, two of them critically.
At the U.N., the International Atomic Energy Agency says it believes North Korea already has five to six nuclear weapons, and a nuclear test would open Pandora's Box. The Bush administration today offered to talk directly to North Korea and recognize its sovereignty in a push to keep it from testing the nuclear bombs.
And in Nairobi, Kenya, the 7-pound-4-ounce infant can thank a dog to be alive. A stray dog apparently found the baby girl abandoned in a forest then carried her across a busy road and through a bashed wire fence to a shed. Two children heard the baby's cries and discovered her nestled with a litter of pups. Gives new meaning to mans best friend, Anderson.
COOPER: See, that's why I love dogs. That's why I do. Thanks very much, Christi. Appreciate it.
Coming up next on 360 -- defensive driving taught on a racetrack. I know it sounds bizarre, but it actually could save your life. And a little bit later tonight, real "CSI-Miami." 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta takes us beyond the hit TV show to see what real-life homicide investigators face every day on the job and on the road.
All that ahead, but first a 360 road quiz. Who do you think spends more time on the road driving each day, men or women? We'll tell you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back. We are live in Los Angeles. The answer to the quiz, who do you think spends more time on the road each day, men or women? The answer is that men do. They drive 67 minutes per day; women drive 44.
There are an awful lot of what-ifs in life, and especially in life on the road at high speeds with other cars whizzing by you, left and right, and appearing suddenly in your lane. Experience prepares you for some what-ifs, but how do you get the experience without risking your neck, especially if you are a young person?
CNN's Sharon Collins reports on a program that lets teenagers face driving dangers without deadly consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHARON COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elizabeth Graper is leaving school early. It is one of those red letter days on any teenager's calendar, Elizabeth is on her way to take her driving test. She hopes to get her license today.
ELIZABETH GRAPER, TEEN DRIVER: A little nervous. But a lot of my friends have already done it.
COLLINS: Elizabeth took Driver's Ed at her high school, and she spent time driving with her mom at her side.
SHARON GRAPER, ELIZABETH GRAPER'S MOTHER: Lizzie, you need to pay attention, honey.
E. GRAPER: It's 25.
S. GRAPER: Yes, and how fast are you going?
E. GRAPER: Forty.
COLLINS: But Elizabeth also did a little something extra -- something that would ordinarily horrify any parent.
E. GRAPER: That's what you do!
COLLINS: It's called Xtreme Measures, a new breed of driving schools springing up around the country. Today's class is held at a race track in Charlotte, North Carolina. Carl Kircher started Xtreme Measures six years ago after an accident that still haunts him today. CARL KIRCHER, XTREME MEASURES: One of my older daughter's best friends got killed. She got two wheels off the side of the road, over-corrected, hit a tree. And I knew right then that there had to be something that I could do that was going to help you guys get through. Get the car to slide. Get it to slide. Get it to slide.
COLLINS: Kircher has worked around auto racing all of his life. His classes apply lessons learned on the racetrack to emergencies encountered in everyday driving situations.
KIRCHER: You can't just take your child in a parking lot and show them defensive maneuvers, car control maneuvers as they did when I grew up. You can't do that anymore. So we provide them a place to learn how to do that at our expense in an oops-free environment so that they can learn what we've learned over 30 years of driving.
COLLINS: The teens practice recovering from skids, handling the car when it runs off the road and avoiding obstacles. His course is not a replacement for the basics of driver's ed, but it does teach students skills they wouldn't learn in a typical course.
S. GRAPER: I felt like I wanted Elizabeth to have some experience in extreme conditions so that she would know what to do if she was in that circumstance.
COLLINS: After a day of driving on the Xtreme course, Elizabeth felt pretty good about what she'd learned.
(on camera): So you think you got it down?
E. GRAPER: Yes.
COLLINS (voice-over): But would it help her get a license? After her driving test, she feels pretty confident.
(on camera): How did you do?
E. GRAPER: I think I did OK.
COLLINS: Did you? Well, good.
(voice-over): But the news is disappointing.
E. GRAPER: I didn't get it.
COLLINS: Twice Elizabeth turned into the wrong lane. A relatively minor mistake, but one that could easily cause an accident. And a reminder of how even the best-prepared teenager won't always make the right call.
Sharon Collins, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Man, I would like to take that extreme driving course. Coming up next on this special edition of 360, real "CSI: Miami." Not the TV show -- our 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta takes us on the road inside the real-life effort to solve murders.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, of course, you've probably seen "CSI: Miami." Each week, David Caruso and his team of police investigators solve a crime in Miami. They do it in glamour and style and in under an hour. In reality, of course, homicide detectives don't have the luxury of a script. That doesn't mean their job is any less dramatic. In fact, it's probably more so. All this week, 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta reports on the life and times of the real C.S.I.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSEPH SCHILLACI, MIAMI POLICE DEPT HOMICIDE INVESTIGATOR: When I look at his nails, I see his nails are long, how they're not broken. We look for obvious signs of trauma.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, 360 M.D.: For "CSI: Miami" there's a lot of snapshots and flashlights at murder scenes.
SCHILLACI: OK, you got it.
GUPTA: But, in the real world, a homicide detective has a variety of duties from the exciting to the mundane.
Sergeant Joe Schillaci of the Miami city homicide takes us through on a routine ride through the Overton area of Miami. In real life, CSI investigators learn the streets.
SCHILLACI: She is coming in the area to buy. Right now. Yes. Look at this. This kills me. I'm getting out on this one.
GUPTA: Suddenly, Schillaci, a father of two himself, stops, not to arrest, but to counsel a teenage heroin user.
SCHILLACI: You are a very pretty young lady. I hate to see you in the mix. How long have you been using?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three years, on and off.
SCHILLACI: Listen, I handled 10, 10 overdoses, in this area in the last six months. If you don't do something, you are going to be 11.
Just that one person, if I can make a difference in that one person's life, then I achieved my ultimate goal out here.
OK, you got it, I'll be there in a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, thank you.
SCHILLACI: We got a case. It's a death investigation.
GUPTA: Next stop, an apartment. An elderly man is found dead on his couch.
SCHILLACI: When was the last time he was seen alive?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just took him some food yesterday. He didn't say anything to me that he was -- he didn't feel good.
GUPTA: In Miami, detectives don't just investigate homicides. They cover natural deaths, as well, and they make sure there's no foul play involved.
SCHILLACI: Poor guy went to sleep and...
GUPTA: A little different than on the CSI shows, where solving dramatic murders is all there is.
SCHILLACI: I need you to come to the office. Can you come to the office?
GUPTA: Back in Miami, Schillaci gets a phone call that changes his life.
SCHILLACI: I'm going to interrupt you. It's official. I've been made.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's been made! He's a lieutenant!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love it! Congratulations. Are you serious?
GUPTA: A call to his wife.
SCHILLACI: You are now Mrs. Lieutenant Joseph Schillaci.
EVELYN SCHILLACI, WIFE: Really? Already?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations!
GUPTA: As the day winds down, Schillaci and his wife Evelyn toast the promotion, but remember the tough times in real life CSI, the dangerous cases, sudden calls and long waits.
Schillaci says the biggest difference between "CSI," the TV show, and reality, is real life.
SCHILLACI: It's not the same, when you are on the scene, trying to console a mother of a child that's been murdered. That's reality. That's what we, the real investigators, have to live with. There's no turning it off. There's no changing the channel if you don't like what you're seeing.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Don't miss Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special report "Anatomy of Murder." It's going to be this Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
Thanks for watching this special edition of 360. I'm Anderson Cooper. CNN's prime time coverage continues with "PAULA ZAHN NOW." END TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
