Visitors to the city center of Eindhoven were allowed to get behind the wheel with drink or drugs on Friday. Don’t worry: not really but in a simulator. In it, (prospective) drivers could experience what it is like to drive under the influence.
On the 18-Septemberplein, people could get into a ‘car’ with a broken windshield. Just like in a real car, there was a steering wheel, gas and brake pedal. Drivers could opt for alcohol, ecstasy, magic mushrooms or cannabis. With virtual reality glasses on, the adventurous ride could begin.
“I was only doing 20 on a road where you’re allowed 50.”
Bas is one of the people who got into the simulator. He chose alcohol. “The response time was delayed, so I reacted very late and my insight was much worse,” he says. “I also received information and when you read that every weekend two drunk young people kill themselves, it is very sad to see. ”
Our reporter Ista van Galen also accepts the challenge. She chooses cannabis. This is a calming drug, but it is precisely because of this that it is often underestimated. She almost hits a few cyclists, reacts two seconds later and is extra careful. “Although I pressed the accelerator full, I only drove 20 on a road where you are allowed 50. So that’s the misjudgment you make because of those drugs.”
“Fortunately, we see very few people come back a second time.”
Last year, more drunk drivers were caught in Brabant than ever before. Nearly 5,800 drivers were fined, forty percent more than a year earlier. Drunk drivers had to pay a fine and take an expensive course of a few half days to get their driver’s license back. From Saturday, this also applies to drivers caught with drugs.
Because young drivers are increasingly arrested under the influence of nitrous oxide, cannabis or ecstasy. Such a course should provide more awareness.
“We know from experience with alcohol that people find it super embarrassing to sit there,” says Nanda Troost, spokesperson for the CBR. “Moreover, it costs more than a thousand euros and they learn from it. So luckily we see very few people there a second time.”
