Washington State Patrol uses "DUI Goggles" to simulate impaired driving

Driving while impaired is an extremely dangerous exercise, and one local reporter recently emphasized that point with a sobering hand-on demonstration. KING 5's Christie Johnson recently visited Washington State Patrol headquarters in Bellevue to try driving while impaired on a test course. She wore a pair of “DUI goggles,” a pair of glasses that simulates what the world looks like with a blood alcohol level over .08.

In the demonstration, Christie drove a golf cart through a path of orange cones, and admittedly found it very difficult to stay between the lines. Along the way, she bumped into some cones and ran over at least one unidentified object. “It feels as if my eyes are completely crossed, and everything's blurry and I can't really see anything that I'm doing here,” she told the trooper leading the demonstration.

In the accompanying video, viewers are offered a birds-eye view of Christie's perspective through the DUI goggles. The cones are slightly out-of-focus, and even for a viewer at home, it's difficult to discern the direction in which the golf cart should be moving.  Clearly, the "DUI goggles" mimic the effects of extreme impairment.

The WSP offers this course as an education tool for people to learn about the dangers of impaired driving. The Patrol not only emphasizes the dangers of driving drunk, but also the dangers of driving while distracted, such as while text-messaging. In the end, the accompanying trooper warns about the steep consequences of Washington State DUI, including license suspension of 90 days or more, exorbitant fines and even jail time.

At Wolff Criminal Defense, we have spent over a decade defending people accused of DUI. You can't fight the system on your own, and a qualified legal team can help protect your interests and navigate through the complex legal system. Our DUI lawyers limit their practice to impaired driving, and we fight each case with skill and zealous advocacy.