Drunken Master...?

[sirwilliam]

No. Just drunken go kart: ARTICLE LINKY WITH VIDEO

July 1, 2006 — Health educators can now give students a realistic taste of the perils of drunk driving, using a DUI simulator. Special go-carts delay the reaction of the brake and gas pedals and exaggerate the response of the steering wheel, making students realize how even a buzz -- let alone being drunk -- can impair their reflexes.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.--Each year, 17,000 people are killed because someone drove while drunk or on drugs, and 1.4 million Americans are arrested for driving under the influence. Some just get a ticket or lose their license. Others end up with more serious consequences. Now a high-tech go-cart may help put the brakes on impaired drivers.

These college students are finding out what it's like to lose control -- what it's like to be a drunk driver. They're testing out a go-cart called SIDNE -- a Simulated Impaired DriviNg Experience.

"We often focus on drunk driving, but you don't have to be drunk to be impaired. You can be buzzed," says Dan Moore, a health educator at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

He uses this simulated technology to show students what could happen -- "Delayed reaction on the brake; delayed reaction on the gas pedal; an exaggerated function of the steering," he tells DBIS.

A remote device controls when the person behind the wheel is sober or totally out of control. "If I just touched the steering wheel like that ... It just completely turned the other way," student Tara Baldrick-Morrone says. Others were completely out of control.

Moore says when you try to correct when you are in the impaired mode, you basically correct too far, which an impaired person would do. With SIDNE's help, instructors hope drivers make better decisions before getting behind the wheel.

SIDNE is already being used to teach high school students about drunk driving and is also part of local driving schools across the country.

BACKGROUND: Simulated Impaired Driving Experience (SIDNE) is the newest tool in the fight against drunk driving. It's a battery-powered, remote-controlled vehicle that resembles a go-cart and simulates the experience of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. SIDNE is now being introduced by health educators and law enforcement around the country to enable high school and college students to experience firsthand the often unimagined impact of driving while under the influence.

[scheherazade]

I think delayed reaction estimates may be exaggerated for political correctness.

I would think that having a beer would have some statistical effect.
Like 1000 trials sober vs 1 beer would on average carry 5-15ms or so latency for the 1 beer case.
But some places make it seem like you're a slobbering mess with any alcohol.
God forbid you eat an apple before you drive.

Just a thought

(AFAIK in VA, under 21, anything over 0.0 (0.000000001) and you're DUI. Over 21 an officer can still make a personal decision about it, even when you're under the limit. Which means having a beer with dinner puts you in danger from the po po.)

-scheherazade

[Raven]

I've tried playing forza and drinking and it normally takes about 3 drinks in quick succession before I start to have trouble at driving at race speed. So the standard caveat of "alcohol effects everyone differently" applies. My little asian friend had one mohito and could barely keep her head off the table. I don't think she could have one drink and be good to drive immediately.

What's a bigger problem for me at least is alcohol shuts down my "that's a bad idea" section of my brain. So I make bad decisions before I have trouble actually controlling the car.

[scheherazade]

I need some electroshock or something...

To remove the neurons for : "ooh it's yellow, if I floor it for 2 seconds I'll make it!"

That shit will burn me (again) one day.

-scheherazade

[complacent]

it's an easy fix in a big city with a cab company number and a cell phone...