They got drunk on air to prove a point

The scene at the WKLK radio station last Friday morning looked more like a bar at closing time than an early-morning radio show.

Partially emptied bottles of vodka, rum and beer sat on a table outside the studio, drunk by three now-intoxicated volunteers under the supervision of close to a dozen police officers and radio station staff.

Josh Widdes had been at the radio station since 5:45 a.m., drinking and taking tests every half-hour to determine how impaired he was. With his larger frame, Widdes seemed relatively sober three hours later. But Scott Boedigheimer insisted he was in better shape.

"Look at how flushed his face is, I'm sober as a snake," Boedigheimer said.

Both had been taking physical sobriety tests as well as breath tests for blood alcohol levels. They'd also been talking on the radio with WLKL operations manager Jake Kachinske, Carlton County deputy Rob Lucas and police officers from Cloquet and Fond du Lac. They got less inhibited on the air as the morning progressed, Kachinske said later.

Widdes said it was the fourth or fifth time he's done the Safe and Sober broadcast and every result has been different.

"So it's just like, hey, I can handle two or three drinks and I'm good enough to drive," he said. People react differently. "I think it depends on what's in your stomach, what you did the day before, random variables."

WKLK general manager Kerry Rodd said the goal of the annual broadcast - usually aired between Christmas and New Year's - is to make people aware of how much they can be affected by a few drinks and to stop them from driving while under the influence of alcohol. It's very scientific, with measuring of each shot exactly, unlike a bar pour, which is often on the generous side.

"The whole idea is that it is a clinical study, not to get them drunk," Rodd said.

That's why volunteer Sara Peterson was cut off.

Rodd pointed out that women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently than men. According to the Women's Health Research Institute at Northwestern University, a woman weighing the same as a man will have a higher blood alcohol concentration after drinking the same amount because women have proportionately more body fat and lower body water.

"The goal is to teach people what can happen when you consume alcohol over a lengthy period of time," Rodd said.

And, yes, the volunteers all had rides home with sober friends or family members that morning.

Boedigheimer said he got tested after four or five drinks and was under the legal limit at 0.03, but could already feel a difference in his face and head, and would not have driven even though he did pass the sobriety tests at that time.

Rodd said the volunteers were much more aware of their reactions because they were focusing on the changes the alcohol caused in both body and brain. In a bar, he said, most people are focused on friends and having fun, and not paying as much attention to the physical effects.

Nils Hansen of the Fond du Lac police department shared a list of three tests that law enforcement officials use they suspect a driver is impaired:

• The walk-and-turn test, in which the suspect is asked to walk heel-to-toe along a straight line. Indications that the person may be intoxicated include losing balance, starting too soon, stopping while walking, not touching the heel to the toe, stepping off the line, using arms for balance, improperly turning or losing balance upon turning, incorrect number of steps.

• The one-leg stand test is exactly like it sounds. The suspect is asked to stand with a foot approximately six inches off the ground and count aloud until told to put it down. Swaying while balancing, using one's arms to balance, hopping or putting one's foot down are signs that the suspect might have a high blood alcohol concentration.

"When someone's impaired, the brain struggles to do two tasks at the same time," Hansen said.

• Hansen said those two tests can sometimes be manipulated by a suspect, but he considers the third, the horizontal gaze test, almost impossible to fake. The officer asks the suspect to follow an object such as a pen, for example, with their eyes to the left and right. Jerking of the eye, rather than the eye smoothly following the object, is considered a clue that the driver has a blood alcohol above 0.10.

"The eyes never lie," Hanson said.

At the end of the broadcast, around 9 a.m., Kachinske announced that they'd gotten word that each participant that morning was over the legal limit.

Interim Cloquet Police Chief Derek Randall said he hoped listeners would take the lessons to heart, and make alternative plans to get home if they were going out for a few cocktails on New Year's Eve, or any other time, such as sharing a ride, or having one member of a group remain sober. There is a taxi service in northern Carlton County, and many local bars participate in the Joyride program, which will pay up to $10 of the cost of a taxi ride home.

Randall said they don't see as many drunk drivers these days, although even one is too many.

"I don't know if it's a generational thing or what, but more people are making smarter choices," he said. "I'm sure we'll see a little bit of a spike, but not like we used to."

There were extra patrols, through the Toward Zero Deaths campaign, looking for impaired drivers over the holidays, he said.

The Joyride program goes year-round. Participating bars include the Carlton VFW, Carmen's, Cloquet Bar & Lounge, Cloquet Labor Temple, Cloquet Moose Lodge, the Cloquet VFW, Pedro's, River Inn, The Jack, and the Third Base Bar. Patrons should ask the bartender for a Joyride coupon.