HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 08-20 Drunken driving simulator gives a sober lesson to kick off Minnesota crackdown STAR TRIBUNE &21/2015 Simulator kicks off Minn.D WI crackdown with sober lesson-StarTribune.com
EAST METRO
Drunken driving simulator gives a sober
lesson to kick off Minnesota crackdown
By Tim Harlaw(http://wwW.startribune.com/tim-harlow/10644986/)Star Tribune
AUGUST 20,2015—11:19PM
Howazd Johnson on Thursday was given a field sobriery test by a Minnesota state
trooper,ordered to waik a straight and narrow line with one foot in front of the other.
With his hand flailing to help him balance and fee[repeatedly slipping off the line,
Johnson failed miserably.
Johnson wasn't intoscicated,but he was wearing"drunk-vision"goggles that simulate
what it's like to drive while impaired.He was among members of the media and the
public who strapped on the fancy eyewear and drove pedal carts through a course lined
with cones inside the Maplewood Mall to try their hand at sobriety tests like those
performed by suspected drunks.
The demonstration put on by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety coincides with
a drunken driving crackdown and awareness campaign that begins Friday and runs
through Sept.7.
� .
`°I'his was nuts,"said Johnson,64,of Hugo,who said he sometimes has one or two �: ^" �� ..��. �5;,.� -.' , .�
drinks after a round of go1L"I know if I have more than[wo,I'd be over[the legal limit]. ,�
This lets you see how you really see,not how you think you see.Pm much more aware � . ;
now.I think back to the 1970s and wonder how the hell we are still alive with all the � ; �
crazy things we did." � � �
$ mi a� �:
Over the past five years in Minnesota,more than 479 people have died in crashes ''4 g1,� „„fi= �.
involving a drunken driver.Labor Day weekend is the second most dangero�s holiday °5` �° ��
for motorists:six DWI arrests,five crashes and three injuries are repor[ed every hour. .;,,.Video(Ol:ll):Traffic reporter Tim Harlow
Law enforcement used Thursday's event to show that impairment begins even before a ��r�t�g��i �that simulate what it's
driver reaches the legal blood-alcohol concentration limit of 0.08 percent. like to drive drunk.He shares his experience.
Campaign runs until Sept.7
"Even after one drink,your judgment is altered,and after two drinks people don't realize Knr�ee evee�r
it,"said Dr.Michael McGonigal,a trauma surgeon at Regions Hospital in St.Paul."Even �0:Average number of DWI arrests per day
if you haven't reached the legal licnit,it doesn't mean you are safe." 25.258:People arrested on drunken driving
Leanne Press of Cottage Grove was one of the first volunteers to drive the circular in 2014
course.She struggled,too,going off course once and scraping a few cones that stood as 0.15 percent:Average blood-alcohol
substitutes for anything from parked cars to mailboxes to light poles or children playing
in the street. concentration(BAC)in a DWI arrest
"It's scary to irnagine what it would be like if tMs were a real car,"said Press,who added 0.19 percent:Average BAC for driver in a fatal
she has never driven drunk."It was iridescent,like looking into a hologram.There were crash
too many irnages to look at.It was nauseating."
See video:startribune.com
The careening pedal carts elicited many laughs from bystanders,but officials stressed
the serious side. Drunken driving deaths by holiday from 2010
to 2014
"There is no such thing as being OK to drive,"said Donna Berger,director of the Office
of Traffic Safety."Either you are sober or you're not." July 4th:25
Police arrest an average 70 inebriated drivers a day.More than 25,258 drivers were Labor Day:24
arrested for drunken driving last year.The average blood-alcohol concentration for a Memorial Day:22
� driver cited with a DWI is 015 percent,while the average for a driver involved in a fatal
crash is 0.19 percent,well above the legal limit.One in seven Minnesotans has a DWI on New Year's Day:16
their record.
Christmas:13
One in four deaths on state roads is attributed to drunken driving.In 2014,2,040 people Thanksgiving:l3
suffered injuries in alcohol-related crashes,according to the Department of Public
Safety. Source:Minnesota Department of Public
Safety
"Dnink driving is dangerous.It affects your ability to make quick decisions,"said Sgt.
Joe Steiner of[he Maplewood Police Department."The message is:Bring a sober driver.°
harlow@startribune.cam 612-673-7768