To understand how alcohol affects your ability to drive, you would need to consume enough to become legally drunk and then get behind the wheel of your car. Not only would that “experiment” be ill-advised, but also dangerous, illegal and potentially life-changing.
We live in an era where reality is becoming more virtual. Sans the driving component, it is now possible to experience the experience what it is like to operate a vehicle while intoxicated.
As a popular eighties movie once asked, “Who you gonna call?”
For Indiana law enforcement, the answer would be, “Drunk Busters.”
According to 2016 statistics reported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 178 people died in DUI-related crashes in Indiana. In their ongoing campaign to discourage area residents from drunk driving, The Gibson County Sheriff’s Office approached Peabody Energy for help with their efforts. The company in turn contacted Drunk Busters, an Oakland City-based company that provided them with six simulation goggles.
The goggles – used in 92 countries to date – were invented by company founder Curt Kindschuh, a 30-year veteran of traffic safety and crime prevention. He has served as a sheriff’s deputy, D.A.R.E. officer, college instructor, MADD Executive Director, and counselor with convicted DUI offenders.
The donation will be used in drunk driving programs at Gibson County schools and churches, along with the Indiana youth leadership camp held in June.
The innovative eyewear simulates the sensation of intoxication. Participants in the initiative will drive different obstacle courses or attempt to walk across parking lots while wearing the goggles.
In addition to five different alcohol level simulations, Drunk Busters also provides goggles that replicate the effects of driving under the influence of marijuana and Ecstasy/Molly/LSD.
