Pubdate: Fri, 25 Mar 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Bethany Lindsay
Page: A6

DRUG SMORGASBORD SUIT AIMS TO CURB IMPAIRED DRIVING

Being simultaneously high on pot, cocaine, heroin, MDMA and LSD is 
never a good combination, but the Ford Motor Company wants you to 
know that it's particularly bad if you plan to get behind the wheel.

That's the idea behind the automaker's new "drugged driving suit," an 
elaborate collection of weights, bandages, goggles and noisemakers 
that claims to simulate the physical effects of taking a variety of drugs.

Ford will be rolling the suit out this year as part of its Driving 
Skills for Life classes, asking new drivers to navigate a driving 
course while pretending to be blissed out on an improbable cocktail 
of illegal substances.

"It shows them that getting behind the wheel, whether you're drunk or 
you're drugged, is a terrible idea," said Ford of Canada spokesman 
Matt Drennan-Scace. "Here in Canada in 2010, research showed that in 
34 per cent of all accidents drugs were part of that accident. 
Thirty-nine per cent were alcohol, so it's not that far off."

I got a chance to test out the suit on Wednesday at the Vancouver 
International Auto Show and tried walking a straight line, catching 
foam balls and programming a car's navigation. It wasn't easy. I 
can't say I've ever tried doing so many uppers, downers and 
hallucinogens at one time, so I can't attest to the accuracy of the 
simulation. But even if I didn't feel high, I certainly felt impaired.

Weights wrapped around my wrists and one ankle, and bandages around 
my elbows and neck, were meant to mimic sluggishness caused by 
marijuana or heroin. Random noises in my ears stood in for auditory 
hallucinations from LSD. A pair of goggles flashed bright lights into 
my eyes, blurred my vision, made me see double and limited my field 
of sight to the space directly in front of me - all side-effects of a 
variety of intoxicants.

And then, for good measure, there was a tremor generator on one hand 
to mimic the effects of withdrawal.

Walking a straight line was impossible. I couldn't tell which of the 
two lines in front of me was real and I could barely lift one leg. 
Those same vision problems made it extremely difficult to stop a foam 
ball from hitting me in the face or choose a radio station on a touchscreen.

But why show teen drivers the effects of so many different drugs at 
once instead of making a suit that focuses on one popular drug like 
marijuana or MDMA?

"If we're showing just one drug, we would need to make a suit for 
every different type of drug," Drennan-Scace said. "The research team 
decided it would be better to show (new drivers) the effects of 
different types of drugs in one suit, to get a feel for what it's like."
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