License to drive, drunk?
No one should be able to tell you what it's like to drink and drive.
No one should be able to tell you how hard it is to control a car when you're impaired.
But I can.
I remember how I searched for my keys, unable to tell which one fit the ignition.
I remember how I struggled to focus on my mirrors, how everything around me was moving in slow motion, how my foot slipped off the pedal as I pushed down on the break and started the car.
If it had been a regular Friday night and I was on my way out, my backseat full of my best friends giggling to each other or if I had just finished a bottle of Sangria while straightening my hair, then this story might have had a tragic ending.
Fortunately, it happened in the middle of the day on a sunny Friday afternoon at the Western Fairgrounds here in London.
My “drunk driving” experience, though very real and truly terrifying, was part of a simulated course designed by the London Police during Police Week. The events demonstrated during Police Week were created to draw attention to the types of situations the London Police deal with everyday.
Dealing with impaired drivers, whether under the influence of alcohol or some other debilitating substance, is a huge part of what London Police officers do on a daily basis.
Sergeant Tom O'Brien of the London Police, who had a hand in bringing this demonstration to London, accompanied me on my drunken adventure.
Having witnessed a similar event at a show in Detroit, he was determined to run a comparable demo in London. Using a real car (2000 Alero) and real people (like me), he set up a true-to-life course to show how impaired driving really affects a driver's ability to control a vehicle.
Impaired only by a pair of Fatal Vision goggles and my own inherited lack of grace, I stumbled my way through an obstacle course, weaving through pylons as a very sober and yet completely unbalanced mess!
They told me that the goggles I wore simulated a 0.08 level of blood alcohol. Since 0.08 is technically the legal limit, the amount of impairment I was experiencing still would have made it legal for me to drive. YIKES!
The goggles had an instant affect; I could barely see a foot in front of me! I immediately felt dizzy and disoriented. I had trouble maintaining my balance and they gave me a wicked headache. Basically I felt drunk.
The course was designed to look like a regular city street created with pylons about one lane-width apart. I was instructed to drive down the road and steer the car through a series of curves. I then had to make a left hand turn, then a right and then finally turn the car into a parking spot and turn off the ignition. It sounds simple enough, but being as woozy and wobbly as I was, it was quite difficult! A very brave Sergeant O'Brien sat beside me and instructed me along the way.
Hey, if you ever get a chance to drive a uniformed officer around a parking lot in beer goggles; go for it! It was a bit surreal.
I hit two pylons and gave everyone a fright when I tried to check my mirrors and completely lost focus. I swear I'm a great driver when I'm sober!
No one should be able to tell you how hard it is to control a car when you're impaired.
But I can.
I remember how I searched for my keys, unable to tell which one fit the ignition.
I remember how I struggled to focus on my mirrors, how everything around me was moving in slow motion, how my foot slipped off the pedal as I pushed down on the break and started the car.
If it had been a regular Friday night and I was on my way out, my backseat full of my best friends giggling to each other or if I had just finished a bottle of Sangria while straightening my hair, then this story might have had a tragic ending.
Fortunately, it happened in the middle of the day on a sunny Friday afternoon at the Western Fairgrounds here in London.
My “drunk driving” experience, though very real and truly terrifying, was part of a simulated course designed by the London Police during Police Week. The events demonstrated during Police Week were created to draw attention to the types of situations the London Police deal with everyday.
Dealing with impaired drivers, whether under the influence of alcohol or some other debilitating substance, is a huge part of what London Police officers do on a daily basis.
Sergeant Tom O'Brien of the London Police, who had a hand in bringing this demonstration to London, accompanied me on my drunken adventure.
Having witnessed a similar event at a show in Detroit, he was determined to run a comparable demo in London. Using a real car (2000 Alero) and real people (like me), he set up a true-to-life course to show how impaired driving really affects a driver's ability to control a vehicle.
Impaired only by a pair of Fatal Vision goggles and my own inherited lack of grace, I stumbled my way through an obstacle course, weaving through pylons as a very sober and yet completely unbalanced mess!
They told me that the goggles I wore simulated a 0.08 level of blood alcohol. Since 0.08 is technically the legal limit, the amount of impairment I was experiencing still would have made it legal for me to drive. YIKES!
The goggles had an instant affect; I could barely see a foot in front of me! I immediately felt dizzy and disoriented. I had trouble maintaining my balance and they gave me a wicked headache. Basically I felt drunk.
The course was designed to look like a regular city street created with pylons about one lane-width apart. I was instructed to drive down the road and steer the car through a series of curves. I then had to make a left hand turn, then a right and then finally turn the car into a parking spot and turn off the ignition. It sounds simple enough, but being as woozy and wobbly as I was, it was quite difficult! A very brave Sergeant O'Brien sat beside me and instructed me along the way.
Hey, if you ever get a chance to drive a uniformed officer around a parking lot in beer goggles; go for it! It was a bit surreal.
I hit two pylons and gave everyone a fright when I tried to check my mirrors and completely lost focus. I swear I'm a great driver when I'm sober!
