SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ford Motor Company has a unique suit that teaches young people about the dangers of driving under the influence of illegal drugs.
The Drugged Driving Suit is equipped with headphones that blast distracting soundst; vision impairment glasses that produce blurred vision; a neck bandage that restricts head movement; and elbow and knee bandages and wrist and ankle weights, which slow down reaction time.
The unique suit made a stop in Sacramento just in time for Fourth of July weekend — the busiest travel weekend of the year.
In an effort to reduce the number of DUI crashes during the holiday, the California Highway Patrol, Ford Motor Company and the California Department of Insurance invited me to hop into the driver’s seat, throw on the suit and experience firsthand how impaired driving feels like.
Simply standing still and keeping my balance while wearing the suit was a challenge in itself. And driving through the orange cones purposely set up for failure was, well, impossible.
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All it took was to drive toward the first cone to realize how difficult and dangerous impaired driving is. I couldn’t even make it around the first cone without touching it.
The second cone was the same story, but the third and fourth cone were different. I ran over both of them and painfully dragged the fourth.
Here's the thing: More people die in drunk driving crashes in July than any other month, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
About 40% of all traffic deaths were alcohol-related during the Fourth of July week in 2017 — the most recent year with available data from NHTSA.
“DUI isn’t just booze though, people need to remember that,” said Mike Harris with California Highway Patrol’s Valley Division. Thousand of crashes that happen during the holiday weekend are caused by drugged drivers.
After driving through the course five, I tallied 13 cones. “This is the exact driving behavior we are targeting this weekend, I would’ve totally pulled you over by now,” Harris said.
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Harris explained we are currently in the 100 Deadliest Days, but the goal is to transform the 100 Deadliest Days into 100 Days of Safer Driving. “The only way we can do that is by educating, educating, educating,” he said.
Not that you need more alarming statistics to prove CHP's point, but national data also shows drugged driving is on the rise, and is one of the main factors contributing to an increase in car crashes.
A study conducted last year by the Health and Safety Authority revealed 9.9 million people reported driving under the influence of drugs.
Harris says my firsthand experience of simulated drugged driving is a great way to show people the dangers and deadly consequences it can bring. The 14 cones I hit and ran over, could’ve been other cars on the road or even people.
The point is, enjoy and celebrate this 4th of July, just do it responsibly and safe.
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