Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Drunk Driving Prevention

Opportunity: Many people get behind the wheel intoxicated, putting themselves and others in danger, everyday 28 people will die as a result of drunk driving accidents on average, because there is no physical barrier that prevents this from happening.

(https://www.bactrack.com/blogs/expert-center/35040645-dui-statistics) Check out more statistics here

-       The who: Intoxicated persons

-       The what: They are getting behind the wheel and putting lives in danger

-       The why: There are no physical barriers to stop them from driving.

Testing the who: Everyone who drives has these need, whether they drink or not. The actions of drunk drivers effect everyone around them.

Testing the what: Intoxicated persons can be doing more than just driving that would put others in harm. Also, the issue goes further than drinking and driving. Those who use drugs and drive are putting lives at risk.

Testing the why: Other reasons why someone might drink and drive, is that there are certain emergencies in which they need to drive. Also, intoxicated people don’t always realize that they are intoxicated, thus they assume they’re ok and they drive anyway.

Interviews

#1

In this interview I spoke to a mother whose son is in college. She is aware that her son consumes alcohol but did not know if her son had ever been intoxicated while driving. Her main concern was that other people on the road would be drunk and drive. She said she worries when her son is out late, mostly because she knows the later in the night , the higher risk of people leaving the bars, clubs or parties in which they have been drinking at. This woman also expressed that while she thinks Uber is a great idea, she also thinks that many people try to avoid the extra cost of paying someone to drive.

#2

In this interview I spoke to a college student, who lives in a college town and who recently turned 21. When asked if he had ever been behind the wheel drunk, he answered that he has never felt too drunk to drive. He told me that in most cases he is able to sober up enough before getting behind the wheel. This interviewee said that he knew people who got behind the wheel intoxicated, but, fortunately, never had any accidents.

#3

In this interview I spoke to a college student, who lives in a college town and who is under the age of 21. She told me that her biggest fear about going out in college is getting hit on the side of the road by a drunk driver. She explained that she lived on a busy road, one in which most bars are located, and she has heard stories of cars veering off the road and hitting people. She also expressed that her and her friends are very aware of the dangers of drunk driving, and when they go out they have a designated driver, someone who doesn’t drink. However, she says that many young teens and students her age participate in underage drinking, and sometime in fear of getting in trouble with the law, they choose to drive home

#4

In this interview I spoke to a middle-aged man with no kids. One thing that stuck out in this interview was when he said that sometimes he will drive to a friend’s house, with no intention to drink, and then get caught up in a social atmosphere and finds himself drinking. He said that he has never been in an accident due to drinking and driving, but he also admitted that there had been times where he may have been a little too intoxicated to drive. He also explained that the distance of where his house is in relation to the party/social gathering, weighs a lot on him when he is considering drinking.

#5

In this interview I spoke to an ex police officer. The officer said that most of the DUIs he had given were to people driving back from some sort of social event. Many of the people he pulled over were unaware of how high their blood alcohol content (BAC) was. The officer also got a little emotional in explaining that he wishes he could stop everyone from drinking and driving but that would be nearly impossible to do. He said that when people have been drinking they experience an increase in confidence, which transfer over to an increase in confidence to drive, even if they are not ok. The officer expressed how he wish there was more than just the law to stop someone from drinking and driving.

Summary

The interviews gave me a lot of new insight about this opportunity and supported the need for a barrier to stop intoxicated drivers. My interview with the police officer was the most eye-opening and moving. The only thing in place to stop drunk drivers is the law, and the hope for people to make the right decisions. My interviews showed me that this isn’t enough. So many people are affected by the actions of drunk drivers. My interviews also made me realize that underage drinking and driving is even a bigger problem than I thought. While conducting these interviews I slowly started designing a product in my head that would fit this opportunity. Essentially, the product would be a breathalyzer connected to the car (or car key) and in order to start the car the driver would have to breath into it. This is just a prototype, but conducting these interviews gave me great ideas about to form this product.