Under medical supervision, 60 students at the Police Academy in Rothenburg got drunk for the sake of science. As test subjects, they participated in a nationwide collaborative project involving all state police forces, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, and the Saxon Police University.
Once the test subjects reached a certain blood alcohol level, various tests were conducted. A key element of the study is the question of whether “breathing into” the breathalyzer provides results that are just as reliable as determining blood alcohol levels through a blood test.
The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimates that alcohol plays a role in 10 to 30 percent of workplace accidents. In road and air transportation, as well as when operating technical equipment, alcohol consumption while on the job constitutes a criminal offense. Precise methods are required for admissible evidence in court under Section 316 of the German Criminal Code (StGB). Existing methods for measuring breath alcohol are not admissible as evidence, since alcohol consumption does not result in a continuous linear decline in performance; rather, it can at times even lead to temporary increases in cognitive performance due to impulsivity in the test subject, with significant deviations between blood alcoholper mille and the mg/L breath alcohol criterion. Therefore, in cases of doubt, a blood alcohol test is always necessary for legal assessment; this entails significantly higher costs, greater effort, and, in some cases, a considerable time delay relative to the time of the offense.
The medical and psychological data obtained are currently being analyzed by Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Matthias Schmidt ( Work and Organizational Psychology), Prof. Dr. habil. Anton Sterbling (Saxon Police University), Dr. Erik Fritzsche ( TU Dresden), and Prof. Dr. jur. Dieter Müller (Traffic Law) and compared with data from other project partners in a nationwide research network. This effort is actively supported by young researchers from both Universities.
Another aim of the organized scientific drinking experiment was to show the prospective police commissioners how alcohol affects the body and the mind. This is important in their daily work to better understand certain situations.
To this end, all volunteers underwent traffic psychology tests—once while sober and once with a significant amount of alcohol in their blood. Specialists from the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus provided medical and technical support for the laboratory equipment . The psychological and neurological performance tests were conducted by staff from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. After the two days of testing, all participants agreed: The current blood alcohol limit of 0.5 per mille while driving is too high; a complete ban on alcohol in road traffic would be good.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Matthias Schmidt
Field of Appointment: Work and Organizational Psychology
Faculty of Social Sciences
Email: matthias.schmidt(at)hszg.de
Website: www.matthiasschmidt.com