Highway accident research data indicate that the drinking driver accounts for more than half of the nation's 50,000 annual traffic deaths. General Motors' long-standing interest in traffic safety, coupled with this growing documentation of the toll exacted by the drinking driver, prompted this study of the effect of alcohol on driving ability.

Two driving tests were designed to evaluate some of the effects of alcohol on driving skills. There were an evasive maneuver simulating a probable highway emergency situation, and a cone course which followed a winding path through three turns and one straight-away.

By showing what happened to seven drivers, trying their best to succeed in a driving experiment, it was hoped that people would be made more aware that they are not as capable or as safe drivers after they have been drinking.