Driving school in Japan tries to let drivers drink and drive

According to the Guardian news agency, this program is part of a campaign by Fukuoka City police to force drivers who were once confident about their alcohol tolerance and ability to drive after drinking to rethink, raising awareness of traffic safety.

The awareness-raising program also commemorates a shocking accident that occurred in 2006 when a local official driving while intoxicated crashed into a car carrying three children, killing all three.

The participants in the recent experiment included two reporters from the Mainichi Shimbun. One reporter, Hyelim Ha, drank and drove, while the other, Shojiro Kubota, sat in the passenger seat and observed his colleague.

First, reporter Hyelim Ha, who was still conscious, was asked to drive through three sections of road including a steep slope, an S-shaped curve, and a series of narrow curves. After that, she drank a 350 ml can of beer, as well as a cup of umeshu plum wine and shochu mixed with water for about an hour.

The results of Ms. Ha's breath test showed that her alcohol concentration was 0.30 mg of alcohol per liter of breath, double the Japanese regulatory threshold of 0.15 mg.

Despite his cold hands, high heart rate and red face, reporter Ha still believed he was capable of driving. This is what the driver who caused the accident 17 years ago told the police.

However, the actual test results proved Ms. Ha's confidence to be wrong.

A colleague in the car said that Ms. Ha continuously increased and decreased speed unnecessarily while traveling on a straight road and entered a curve at a higher speed, at times encroaching into the opposite lane.

"Although drinking alcohol impairs the skills needed to drive, such as perception, judgment and vehicle control, drivers still believe they are driving safely. That is the danger of drinking and driving," said Kubota reporter.

Many drivers who drink and drive without causing an accident will assume they have steady driving skills and continue to repeat the same dangerous behavior, according to the National Police Agency of Japan.

The Guardian newspaper cited Japanese police data showing that the probability of a fatal road traffic accident when the driver was drunk was seven times higher than in accidents when the driver was sober.

Minh Hoa (reported by Giao Thong, Thanh Nien)

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