CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, nearly 6,000 people were killed last year and more than a half-million injured by distracted drivers.

A new law in Colorado aims to change that.

On Dec. 1, it will be illegal to text, tweet or email behind the wheel.

For many people who can text without looking at their phones, it may be tough to give up.

"There was no attempt to stop. We were hit at 45 mph," Darcie Gudger told Call7 Investigator Theresa Marchetta.

Gudger, her husband and young son were on their way to church last month when they were hit from behind by an oncoming car.

"We were making a turn and all the sudden it sounded like an explosion," Gudger said.

That "explosion" turned out to be the sound of a 25-year-old driver plowing into their car.

"So, I had a significant whiplash injury in my neck and injury to my shoulder and low back from the impact," Gudger said.

Gudger said witnesses at the accident scene stopped to tell her what they saw.

"It appeared (the driver) could have been texting. She was not looking at the road. Her head was down and away," Gudger said witnesses told her.

It is the kind of accident instructors at MasterDrive work hard to prevent, and next month it is also the law.

"What we really do is work with students on being able to increase their response time," said Dawn Langford, general sales manager for MasterDrive.

Langford's father founded the comprehensive driving facility more than 20 years ago, with locations in Colorado and California.

She agreed to put two expert "texters" to the test on their training course. Katie Samuels is a sales associate at 7NEWS and a self-proclaimed text-while driving champion.

"I would say that I'm pretty confident texting and driving. I know it's not good, but yeah, I'm good at it. I'm the Jeff Gordon of texters," said Samuels.

Kate McNerney, who is an intern at 7NEWS, also agreed to be tested.

"I think I'm good at texting and driving. I have been doing it for a long time," McNerney said.

First, both 20-something texters practiced on the course in what is called an avoidance exercise without using their cell phones.

"It's as if they were in a scenario in the real world driving where some kind of crisis situation happened in front of them and you have to maneuver the vehicle very, very quickly around that," said Langford.

But unlike in the real world, they have an advantage. They know something is coming.

"At some points two lights are going to go on and one is going to stay off. The two that go on indicate that those lanes are blocked and you have to go the lane that doesn't have the light on it. That's your solution," said Langford.

"Ok, let's do this," said Samuels.

Both women got instruction, responding to the changing lights and navigating the lanes with their total attention on the road and the course. After several passes, Langford added a distraction by calling them on the phone.

"Whoa!" said Samuels as she reached to answer the phone.

Both drivers swerve and slow down when answering the calls, but quickly regain confidence.

Then, the texts started coming in.

"Ugh," said Samuels, "I couldn't even respond to that one."

"Whoa," said McNerney, "I couldn't even do it! Oh, this is not good at all."

It did not take long for the expert texters to look like amateurs.

"It was a disaster. I'm horrible. I should never text and drive," said the once confident McNerney.

"I couldn't even imagine sending a text in the middle of that. I would have absolutely run over every cone on the course," Samuels said.

"Many cones, many potholes and the car took a lot of abuse today," said McNerney.

Their MasterDrive score for driving while texting?

"Probably a D- or an F," Langford said.

It was a sobering lesson about what drivers think they can handle, versus what they can execute in real time.

"I will never text and drive again. I can't. I will never do it," said McNerney.

"It's humbling and it's kind of a wake up call," Samuels said.

As for Gudger, she said she came close to becoming a statistic.

"We were lucky our car was in motion. If we were stopped I might not be talking to you right now. That's how hard we were hit," she said.

Despite the new law, Gudger hopes when it comes to phones and cars common sense prevails.

"Can people text and drive?" Marchetta asked.

"No. I don't believe so," Gudger said.

Colorado is one of 18 states so far to pass texting and driving laws.

On Dec. 1, it will also be illegal for teenagers and school bus drivers to use cell phones in any way while driving.

Fines range from $50 to $100.

For more information on MasterDrive, MasterDrive.

For more information on the texting and driving law going into effect in December, go to the state's Web site on texting and driving.