Don't Try This At Home

Drinking And Driving In The Name Of Science

(AP)  Iowa drivers will soon do something that would ordinarily be ill-advised and illegal: Get behind the wheel after guzzling vodka-laced fruit juice.

The liquored-up motorists will be drinking and driving in the name of science.

Researchers will test their performance and reaction times in the world's most sophisticated driving simulator. The final touches are being put on software and instrumentation at the National Advanced Driving Simulator in preparation for the three-year, $5.1 million study.

The three-ton, $81 million simulator recreates every traffic scenario computer programmers can design, from driving wintry highways at night to surviving urban intersections terrorized by red light-running SUVs.

"Believe it or not, there is still a lot we don't know about drunk driving," said Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. "When we get the studies and information we need, we'll have a better feel for whether (the simulator) has been worth it or not," she said.

The simulator is owned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and run by the University of Iowa. The payoff for researchers — and taxpayers who covered the majority of the cost — is the promise of reducing crashes and deaths.

When the trials begin this spring, more than 300 participants will be tested on their ability to drive at varying levels of impairment.

After years of planning, design and construction, researchers finally began using the simulator last year to study drivers talking on cellular phones.

The heart of the simulator is a 24-foot enclosed dome that contains the full body of a vehicle. High resolution, 3-D images appear on a 360-degree wraparound screen designed to give test drivers the same experience they would have on the open road. There are landscapes, buildings, pedestrians, even grazing cows.

Cameras record accelerator and brake pedals, sensors track eye movement, and monitors collect data on driver reactions, allowing researchers to compare motorist behaviors and reaction times.