A major campaign to cut drink-driving is running across the Humber region during the festive period.
Global research shows that a motorist’s ability to drive safely is impaired from the very first sip of alcohol.
Safer Roads Humber – the region’s road safety partnership launched the campaign during national road safety week with the “big experiment” event at the Military of Defence School of Transport on Tuesday, 23 November.
Two volunteers demonstrated to the press and partnership members the effects that alcohol has on the body, mind and driving skills over a period of four hours.
Under controlled conditions, the two volunteers undertook a range of tests including written and hand-to-eye coordination tests, as well as driving through an off-road manoeuvrability course under the close supervision of an approved driving instructor.
The tests were repeated after consuming relatively small amounts of alcohol. The purpose of the experiment was to show how even one drink can affect a person’s judgement and skill.
The most dramatic result was how the volunteers’ reaction times slowed with each unit of alcohol, which in driving terms meant that the distance to complete an emergency stop nearly doubled. They also were unable to complete the Field Impairment Test (FIT) which is undertaken by Humberside Police when a driver is suspected of being under the influence of drugs.
Mike Yeomans, the approved driving instructor supervising the tests said “As the experiment went on, the drivers’ skill level in performing the mental and visual tests quickly deteriorated. After the very first drink their peripheral vision started to decline. In a driving situation, the motorists would be unable to judge the distance between them and another vehicle when overtaking, which could result in a crash. They would not be able to see potential hazards like pedestrians crossing the road or cyclists or motorcyclists”
He continued “What’s more, the volunteers started to take wild risks; their depth of field of vision was distorted; they started to cheat on the tests and had less regard for authority. This all adds up into increased risks whilst driving.”
Members of the press and partnership were able to undertake some of the tests whilst wearing “beer goggles”. The beer goggles distort the drivers’ vision in a similar way to having consumed a large amount of alcohol.
Mick Harris, partnership manager for Safer Roads Humber, said: “Drink driving is completely unacceptable and often drivers are caught out by not thinking through their plans fully.
“What the drink drive experiment shows is that reactions times of drivers are dramatically slowed down, which means that they put themselves and others in danger.”
Humberside Police, one of the partners, is carrying out extra enforcement activities in a bid to cut drink driving in the area. Acting Superintendant Darren Downs said “Humberside Police have a zero tolerance towards drink driving. The police will prosecute anyone caught driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol.”
During the current campaign against drink-driving Safer Roads Humber is using posters, leaflets, flyers and adverts on buses to get the message of the dangers of drink-driving across to motorists.
This year the campaign is focusing on raising awareness of the consequences of being caught over the limit to young male drivers in our region as they are more likely to give a positive breath test or be involved in crashes after drinking.
The partnership is visiting a number of football events across the region in the lead up to Christmas to give out information on the length of time that alcohol remains in the body.
Humberside Police is also encouraging members of the public to ring them on 0845 60 60 222 if they see a drink driver or 0800 555 111 (Crime stoppers) if they have information about a motorist who regularly drinks and drives.
The advice from Safer Roads Humber is “not a drink, not a drop” if you are driving – don’t let drink driving ruin your life.
