Booze control: Japanese driving school gives motorists a few beers and then tests their skills to highlight the dangers of drink-driving
Drink control: Japanese driving school gives drivers a few beers, then tests their skills to highlight the dangers of drunk driving
- A reporter can be seen crashing into poles and a cone while under the influence
A Japanese driving school hands motorists beer and then has them take a course under the influence of alcohol to highlight the dangers of drunk driving.
Video shows one of the willing participants cruising the course with ease and soberness.
Yuichiro Kodama, a reporter for the Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation, one of the local media outlets who expressed interest in the plan, managed to endure S-turns and swing between cones on the school’s private track in the early stages.
But during a 90-minute break, he downed five whiskeys with soda and a can of beer before taking a breather to make sure he was drunk enough.
The video shows him visibly drunk getting into the car and scuttling around the course while sitting next to an instructor, crashing into roadside posts and running over a cone, at points that look like he’s on the about to fall asleep.
After successfully completing the first part of the text, reporter Yuichiro Kodama drank five whiskeys with soda and a can of beer during a 90-minute break
The video shows him visibly drunk getting into the car and driving around the course, crashing into cones and poles on the side of the road next to an instructor
He is then shown stumbling out of the car to give an update.
Chikushino Driving School teams up with the local police in Fukuoka Prefecture to carry out the bizarre plan.
Drivers must undergo a series of tests while fasting and then again when they exceed the legal limit.
The limit in Japan is 15 milligrams per 100 milliliters, compared to 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 milliliters in Britain.
Hyelim Ha, a reporter at the Mainichi newspaper, also tried her luck during the course, accompanied by Shojiro Kubota, the school’s deputy principal.
After consuming a can of beer, a glass of plum liqueur and a splash of the traditional drink ‘shochu’, Ha had reached double the legal limit.
“My hands are cold and my heart is beating fast,” she said, adding that she felt able to drive.
But Ha had problems on the track, accelerating and decelerating intermittently on a straight stretch of road with no cones.
Kodama sometimes almost seemed to fall asleep after his 90-minute drink break
While she completed the slalom section without any problems, Kubota gave Ha a warning as she approached the S-turns.
“You entered the corner at a faster speed than before you drank,” he said.
“Also, you swerved too wide, which caused the car to end up in the opposite lane.
“Even though it slows down the skills people need to drive, such as cognitive ability and judgment, the driver assumes they’re driving safely — and that’s the danger of drunk driving.”
The police are trying to raise awareness about drunk driving through the campaign, seven years after an accident killed three children.
Akio Ogami was driving his car across a bridge over Hakata Bay when a car driven by city manager Futoshi Imabayashi crashed into it from behind.
The vehicle fell nearly 50 feet from the bridge and into the bay before quickly sinking.
Imabayashi was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of causing the deaths of the three children, who were one, three and four years old, while driving under the influence of alcohol.