A university test showed how even “two drinks” impair vision, reflexes and judgment when driving a vehicle.
Driving after drinking continues to be one of the most dangerous decisions among young people in Colombia and the world, even among those who claim to have consumed “only a couple of drinks.”
To show how alcohol affects the brain, attention and reflexes, a university test was carried out in Colombia, through its driving simulator. The exercise sought to recreate, in a controlled manner, what happens when a person drives with blurred vision, limited motor skills, and divided attentionthe three pillars of the deterioration induced by this substance.
What happens when a person drives under the influence of alcohol?
The experiment used a simple but powerful method: swimming goggles with Vaseline to generate visual distortionthick gloves to restrict fine motor skills, and an additional cognitive task that involved counting backwards by threes.
You may be interested in: Christmas plan in Bogotá! Tren de la Sabana announces its routes and rates
With these limitations, participants had to complete a course in the simulator and repeat it later without restrictions. The contrast between both results was drastic: loss of control, errors in trajectory, late braking and failure to identify signs.
More than 40,000 deaths in the last decade
At the national level, the figures show the magnitude of the risk. According to Legal Medicine and the Ministry of Justice, in a decade there were 40,399 deaths associated with alcohol consumptionwhich shows that this behavior represents a public health problem. International evidence coincides: in the United States, in 2023 alone, 12,429 deaths were reported in crashes linked to this substance, and more than 2,100 deaths involved drivers with blood alcohol levels between 0.01% and 0.07%, a range that many consider “moderate.” Data shows that there is no safe amount to drive.
During the simulation carried out by Manuela Beltrán University, participants experienced scientifically documented limitations.
The engineer and mobility expert of that institution, Hugo Pachón, said that alcohol consumption affects the visual field, it is reduced and the call appears “tunnel vision”which makes it difficult to perceive pedestrians or lateral vehicles.
The specialist pointed out that the gloves imitate the loss of coordination: clumsy movements, excessive steering wheel corrections and slower reaction times. When adding the mental task, performance drops drastically, because the intoxicated brain loses the ability to perform two tasks simultaneously.
Pachón explained that the main problem is not only physical, but also cognitive: alcohol first affects judgment and generates a false sense of control. He recalled that policies such as Law 1696 seek to anticipate deterioration to avoid serious consequences.
More information: Femicides in Atlántico: 52 women murdered so far in 2025
Colombian legislation establishes sanctions from levels as low as 20 mg of ethanol per 100 ml of bloodwith license suspension and fines. Science confirms that deterioration begins before the person feels drunk.
The test concluded that “the risk is not in feeling drunk, but in being drunk, even from the first drink.”
Source: Integrated Information System
