Ford uses ‘hangover suit’ to show driving impairment

While people know about the dangers of drinking and driving, the Ford Motor Company is trying to highlight the dangers of driving while hungover.

The company has created a “hangover suit” that simulates how a person may feel and move the next day after a night of heavy drinking.

The 17-kilogram suit includes ankle and wrist weights, a vest, a weighted cap, goggles and headphones. These all help to simulate dizziness, vision impairment, a migraine headache and sluggish movement.

Grant Bastedo with Ford Canada said the suit was created by a German institute, the Meyer-Hentschel Institute, to recreate that hangover feeling.

“People don’t think about the day after and how when you’re feeling really lousy, how impaired you are as well,” Bastedo told the 980 CJME Morning Show.

“It’s a way you shouldn’t feel behind the wheel when you hop into a car, you should be at your best and that’s for your safety and for the safety of the people who are also on the road.”

Bastedo said they have other suits available to simulate being drunk and under the influence of drugs.

He said they use these tools in a worldwide program called Driving Skills for Life.

“It’s for teen drivers to show them defensive driving techniques but also to show them things you shouldn’t do while you’re driving.”

Bastedo said the program has been a valuable tool to get people talking about impaired driving and other impairments.