Medicine Hat, AB – With a hand tremor, double vision, heavy limbs and stiff joints, people can barely make it through the cones set up at Big M Ford.
Driving in that condition could be deadly.
That’s why Ford has designed a suit to dramatically teach people about the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs.
“With the suit, you’re able to feel the effects and see the effects of being under the influence in a safe environment.” Said Ford spokesperson Angela Cabucos. “So without actually getting behind the wheel, people can really feel the impairment that you would have, had you been taking drugs, like marijuana, cocaine, any of them.”
Some components of the suit include glasses that blur and double vision, headphones blaring annoying beeping noises, weights to throw off balance, and a glove to create a hand tremor.
Sergeant Clark White with Medicine Hat Police Service traffic unit says says they’ve seen a spike in drug related impaired driving numbers since legalization of cannabis nine months ago.
“The first few months, relatively no impact whatsoever. The last couple of months though, we’ve seen a spike.” White said. “And we had, I believe six in the last couple of months. Cannabis or other drug related impaired driving charges.”
It’s because of numbers like those, that Big M sales manager, Barry Hagemeister, is hopeful Ford’s Driving Skills for Life program starts to resonate with young people.
“We all have children and grandkids that are on the roads today. I was involved myself in a drunk driving accident from a drunk driver myself.” He continued. “It doesn’t seem to be getting any better. It seems to be getting worse and worse. The message has to get out there more and more.”
