Here's an interesting thought. To research new safety systems, ask your government to allow you to drink while driving. We have to admit that here in the Friday Beerblog department, drinking & driving is not cool, but if it's all for the sake of safety research, sign us up!

In a recent report, Volvo has asked for special exemption from Sweden's tough drink-driving laws so it can test its new safety systems that warn a driver if he's not reacting to danger. In a nutshell, they want permission to drive drunk.

"It's a matter of developing technical systems that warn if the driver isn't reacting properly," said Christer Gustafsson, spokesman for Volvo Cars, which is owned by Ford. Oh Mr. Gustafsson, perhaps you should make Truckblog your home page so you'd learn about cool new safety systems from your competitors, like the lane departure warning system reported earlier today.

Anyone interested in being a drunk crash test dummy for Volvo, contact Mr. Gustafsson at Volvo. BYOB.

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