POLICE Department
HPD Premieres Video Depicting Dangers of Drinking and Driving
January 28, 2016 - At a premiere event today (Jan. 28), officers with the Houston Police Department's DWI Task Force joined the Harris County District Attorney's Office, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), other local law enforcement agencies and Texas Pictures in debuting a video depicting the dangers of drinking and driving.
"You've heard the message for years 'Don't Drink and Drive,'" said HPD DWI Task Force Senior Police Officer Don Egdorf. "We wanted to do something different."
Last May, HPD's DWI Task Force conducted a controlled experiment, showing the effects drinking can have on a person's ability to talk, act and drive. Over time, participants were given a controlled amount of alcohol and their reactions were documented and recorded. Finally, at each stage of progressive intoxication, the participants were placed behind the wheel of a car operating on a closed driving track to gauge their ability to drive, to avoid obstacles and to park. Videographers from Texas Pictures captured each stage of the experiment from the ground and in the air.
"The goal was to show someone didn't have to be stumbling drunk to be too impaired to drive," said Officer Egdorf. "When someone is driving while intoxicated, his or her judgment is impaired. They take risks they wouldn't normally. They cut corners, start braking later than they normally would, drive faster than they should. These are things we, as DWI officers, see every night. Now on this video, the public can see them too."
The video will be distributed as a new tool in the effort to educate the public on the dangers of drinking and driving, with a goal toward reducing and preventing DWI incidents and DWI related deaths. Harris County continues to lead the state in the number of people killed by drunk drivers.
The video may be found at https://youtu.be/-Y7iApUMBJ4
KJS/JFC 1-28-16
For additional information, please contact the HPD Public Affairs Division at 713-308-3200.
