Take CHP's `Sobriety Challenge' at Sears Point Raceway
17 December 1998
Take CHP's `Sobriety Challenge' at Sears Point Raceway
SONOMA, Calif.--Dec. 17, 1998--In an effort to raise awareness about driving sobriety over the holidays, Sears Point Raceway and the California Highway Patrol will stage a controlled wine tasting on Thursday, Dec. 17, 1998 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to graphically illustrate how alcohol consumption affects driving performance.
The program will kick-off National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention month, a series of local events throughout the country that will attempt to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. This is the day before National Lights On For Life Day, when motorists are asked to drive with their headlights on all day to remind people about the impaired driving problem and in remembrance of those killed by impaired drivers.
Community leaders, college students, local business people, media personnel and race car drivers will be served a catered lunch beginning at 11 a.m. with wine from Napa Valley's Andretti Winery. Among the participants will be Garry St. Jean, general manager of the Golden State Warriors, and Bryan Germore, the 1997 NASCAR Southwest Series Champion. The purpose of this holiday experiment is to show the havoc an alcohol impaired driver can cause on a roadway.
AAA will also serve their "Liquor-less Libations" Cheers!, special non-alcoholic beverages to demonstrate to drivers that they do have a choice when they choose to drink during the holiday season.
The participants will each be served 1 to 2 glasses of wine with lunch and then be asked to drive around a coned "autocross" course at the raceway. Program organizers anticipate that the drivers will hit many of the cones on the course, illustrating how impairment begins at any amount of alcohol consumption and with a BAC of approximately half the legal limit (.04%), can significantly impair a driver's reactions.
The participants will drive Mitsubishi sedans provided by the Russell Racing School. All drivers will be given field sobriety tests, including a breathalyzer analysis, before they get behind the wheel.
Automobile crashes involving drunk drivers is the number one cause of death on highways in California and throughout the country. In 1997, there were 20,888 alcohol related collisions that resulted in the deaths of 1,100 people and injuries to 31,189 others in California. Last year during the Holiday Season (Thanksgiving through New Year's), 107 people were killed in alcohol-related car crashes and 3,469 people were injured in California.
Nationwide, 40% of all fatal accidents were alcohol related. Drivers between the ages of 21-34 account for half of all alcohol related accidents.
The sponsors are calling this event a "challenge" because drivers are always aversely challenged when they decide to drink and drive. This is why the CHP recommends a Designated Driver.
Note to Editors: The media is invited to participate in the driving experiment. However, all participants must arrange for a designated driver to transport them away from the race track after the event.
