2023-08-29 14:19:24
In a driving school in the city of Chikushino, located in the prefecture of Fukuoka (Japan), drivers are encouraged to drink alcohol before hitting the road. The experiment was developed to alert the general public to the dangers of drink-driving, reports The Guardian. The surprising workshop is organized in collaboration with the local police.
A sad birthday
It is proposed 17 years to the day after the death of three children run over by a drunk driver in the town. This prevention campaign aims to show motorists that even if they do not feel diminished after drinking, they represent a danger if they get behind the wheel.
Hyelim Ha, journalist from the Japanese media Mainichi Shinbun, and his colleague, tried the experiment. The reporter first took three courses (a slalom, an S-turn, and a series of tight turns). At that time, she was completely sober. Subsequently, the director of the driving school, Shojiro Kubota, invited her to drink 35 cl of beer and a glass of wine, before getting back behind the wheel. His colleague did not drink alcohol and was able to observe the progress of the experiment.
Diminished abilities
The alcoholic motorist felt particularly well, despite a blood alcohol level exceeding the authorized threshold. His driving, however, proved to be of questionable reliability. In particular, she had great difficulty crossing the slalom and respecting the speed limit. The director of the driving school even noted that his trajectory had occasionally deviated.
Shojiro Kubota explained that the danger of driving under the influence of alcohol lies in the fact that the driver does not realize the decline of his cognitive and physical abilities. “The driver has the impression of driving in a completely safe manner,” he lamented. Japan’s national police agency agrees. “The probability that a road accident causes a death is seven times higher when the driver has been drinking alcohol,” commented the institution.
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