Ford suit shows drink driving impairment

Think you’re ok to drive after a couple of drinks? Ford’s Drink Driving Suit shows the effect of alcohol on driving

Ford Europe has created a Drink Driving Suit in response to research showing that 56 per cent of young European drivers have either driven while drunk or seen a friend drink and drive.

The research was commissioned by Ford Europe and surveyed 5,000 18-24 year old drivers in the UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy.

Some 32 per cent of those polled said they had accepted a lift from a drink driver.

Sixty-six per cent said they did not know the legal alcohol limit for their country.

Meanwhile, young Spanish men, at 74 per cent, were the most likely to have gotten behind the wheel after drinking or seen friends do the same, ahead of German men at 65 per cent and French men at 64 per cent.

Some 26 per cent of those who themselves drove after drinking said they felt they could still drive safely.

According to the European Union, a quarter of all road deaths in Europe are drink related and it’s a leading contributor in fatal road accidents involving young drivers.

Ford teamed up with researchers from the Meyer-Hentschel Institut in Germany, which specialises in investigating the effects of mobility impairment, to develop the suit.

Part of the Ford Driving Skills for Life programme for young drivers, the suit impairs balance, visibility and co-ordination via tunnel-vision glasses, wrist and ankle weights, ear muffs, and elbow, neck and knee padding.

The Ford Drink Driving suit impairs hearing, vision and movement

It makes simple functions such as walking a straight line more difficult and shows how reactions are impaired while doing complex tasks, like driving after drinking.

Ford Europe’s chief operating officer Barb Smardzich said: ‘Ford’s Drink Driving Suit is a clever way of enabling people who are sober to safely experience first hand how significantly their abilities can be affected by alcohol.

‘The suit means we can show people how much more difficult even simple activities become, as well as teaching them about the dangers of drinking and driving.’

Meyer-Hentschel CEO Gundolf Meyer-Hentschel added: ‘People trying on the Drink Driving Suit for the first time soon find that they struggle with everyday tasks they would usually take for granted – such as picking up a cup or dialling a telephone number.

‘It provides a powerful way of reinforcing the serious message of what could happen when driving under the influence of excessive alcohol’.

Ford has also developed a Pregnancy Suit and a Third Age Suit to better figure out the needs of expectant mothers and older drivers.