*All photos courtesy of Ford South Africa and Mike Turner Photography *
I enjoy a glass of wine. I enjoy a glass of champagne. I’ll take a shot of tequila over both. I’m well aware of the dangers of driving under the influence and have refrained from doing so… or so I thought. Take a moment to answer these:
- What’s the legal alcohol consumption limit when driving?
- Is it a flute of champagne? One beer? One shot of tequila?
- What constitutes a glass? How full does the wine glass have to be?
- Can I drink 3 beers over 4 hours? Would that keep me “below the legal limit”?
Yeah. I don’t know the answers either.
In fact, I recently realised I have no cooking clue what the legal limit is. I’ve always thought I’ve known my limit. But what is my limit? What is your limit? Alcoholic beverages vary in their alcohol percentage and size. We continually consume booze and then climb into a giant piece of tech that is, basically, a giant metal accident waiting to happen.
I always thought I was responsible and then I headed off to a #DriveDry day organised by Ford. I get to go to lots of these fun events (a perk of being editor of this site) and usually they involve a rad experience that I mark off the bucket list and remember fondly. This day was a little bit different. Ford has developed a Drunk suit which replicates the effect of alcohol on your body. It is currently touring the world as part of an activation to show you and I how our body reacts to booze. The suit works as follows and was designed by the Meyer-Hentschel Institute in Germany following years of scientific research:
There are a variety of different “drunk goggles” and they can be set to replicate various stages of drinking. At one point I was wearing a pair of goggles and was told that these replicated my vision when I was at the legal limit, meaning I’d technically pass a breathalyzer. I was encouraged to drive a vehicle around a set of cones and battled to see the cones. I didn’t knock them down. If they were people we could argue I didn’t “kill” them. But every time my foot touched the accelerator of the vehicle my brain screamed NO.
When you’ve had a bit to drink it doesn’t scream no. It tells you you’re fine. You believe it. For the first hour of my time in the drunk suit I kept arguing that:
- I don’t get this drunk and then get behind the wheel of a car.
- I never feel this way when I drink. I don’t drink enough to feel this way.
As the day went on certain tell tale signs popped up. My pace when walking around slowed down as my balance was off. Sitting down on a chair and then getting up was a clumsy affair. Typing a tweet took considerably longer than it should have. I want to say we can all relate. We’ve all been out and been there, felt that way…. but I’d hate to make presumptions on your behalf. I know that I felt rather ashamed. Despite the fun of the day (and the chance to win prizes, I’m rather competitive… ) I started to feel a little bit ashamed. My friend Nafisa has never had a sip of alcohol. She was participating as well and I kept thinking, she must think we’re all mad. Why are we doing this to ourselves?
And why are we doing this to ourselves? Drinking enough wine or beer that we can’t complete a simple task like walking in a straight line and climbing over a bar less than 50cm off the ground? More importantly, why the hell are we getting behind the wheel of a vehicle and attempting to get ourselves home?
Following my day with Ford South Africa I went to www.drivedry.co.za and pledged to DriveDry. I went out following this and no alcohol passed my lips because I was driving myself home. I started to worry that maybe I’d become that sanctimonious girl we all hate that looks at you in disgust and with an air of superiority. I had to fight the urge to berate my friends every time they bought their drink to their lips. We headed off to the Foo Fighters and my brother lectured me on not commenting on my friends’ drinking habits. I decided to DriveDry for this concert as well. I watched as, before the opening act had even taken to the stage, a girl sitting outside the stadium waiting for her friends in the beer queue had to be lifted by her boyfriend and carried to their seats, her eyes glossed over. The pair stumbled as they went, his motor skills and balance failing him as he had probably also had a fair bit to drink already. Another gent behind me during the show attempted to head bang. Clearly it was too much as he stumbled forward, his balance gone, and sloshed his beer down the back of my jeans. I bit my tongue. I bit it again as we headed to our car at the end of the show and watched so many around us do the same. Many fumbling for their car keys and tripping over imaginary cavities in the car park.
I don’t want to begrudge anyone their fun… But with the likes of Uber and Snapp Cab available to us there is no reason to be drinking and driving. There is no justification and definitely no excuse, no matter how well you “handle your booze.”
What terrified me most driving home that night was that, despite driving dry, I was surrounded by people who did not have full control of their bodies or senses. We were hurtling down highways in metal missiles and risked ending the lives of people whose names we would never know.
After 27 years it took a day in a ridiculous looking suit to convince me that I’ve been an irresponsible idiot. For others, the realisation happens only after they’ve ended the life of someone’s girlfriend or mother or friend. Don’t be that person.
