'Beer goggles' a safety measure in Britain

Leeds, England -- Authorities in a British city are using "beer goggles" that mimic the effects of drinking alcohol to educate people about the dangers of drunken driving.

Because of a growing number of drunken driving accidents in West Yorkshire County, the Leeds City Council has approved the use of the unusual devices to educate local teenage drivers, The Daily Mail said Saturday.

A member of the council's road safety promotion unit said that by showing teens the detrimental effects of alcohol, the goggles could help limit such potentially deadly accidents.

"Hopefully, they will remember the time we went into school, they tried the goggles and couldn't stand up straight, and they will think twice before getting into a car with a drunk driver or even driving drunk themselves," safety official Becky Prosser said.

Individuals between the ages of 17 and 24 are considered the most at-risk for being involved in drunken driving accidents in Britain, the British newspaper reported.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.