Driving: a health hazard?

A car travelling at 80km takes 53 metres to come to a stop and reducing this figure could mean the difference between life and death. At 80kph, a driver will cover 15m before their brain tells their foot to brake. But what if that could be reduced? Researchers in Germany have set the wheels on motion to see if it's possible.

Winter always sees a spike in road accidents, largely from poor weather, but also from seasonal parties. Many drivers simply don't know how much they can drink before they are over the drink-drive limit, or believe they're more resilient to alcohol than they actually are. Fortunately, a gadget is at hand to stop drivers taking to the wheel while drunk.

Meanwhile, in Russia, traffic police will have a new tool at their disposal from 2012. A company called Laser Systems has developed a roadside camera that can detect alcohol inside cars, helping officers to detect which drivers may have a whiff of a drink on their breath.

And finally, we ask whether it's possible that people are pre-programmed to be bad drivers... genetically.