CRAWLING along at 5mph, hands gripping the wheel, I saw objects swimming in front of me.

At first the task appeared simple. Put on a pair of ‘beer goggles’ designed to replicate how alcohol impairs your vision, and negotiate five sets of traffic cones.

But as soon as the goggles were on, I could barely see the wheel in front of me, never mind the speedo or the road.

Finding the handbrake was a challenge and negotiating the red cones an impossible feat unless I drove at walking pace.

And this was without factoring in the articifially heightened confidence, lowered inhibitions and bravado which goes hand in hand with drink driving.

Put it all together and you’ve got the fatal concoction which claims so many lives on the roads each year.

I could not judge how far away objects were and it could only have been a tougher test if my eyes had been closed altogether.

It brought to mind the painful experience of an acquaintance of mine who was arrested for drink driving and banned when he was caught driving at 10mph on the motorway.

Swerving out of the way of cones that weren’t actually there made me wonder how he even reached 10mph.

I incredulously asked the assembled police officers how anyone could contemplate getting behind the wheel with their senses so impaired.

I climbed gingerly out of the dual control Ford Focus, having miraculously managed to avoid crashing - mainly because of the learner-driver speed I was travelling at and the help of ‘co-pilot’ John Goodman from the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership.

It was an entertaining way to highlight a serious issue.

In Lancashire, around 12 per cent of road related deaths can be blamed on drink or drugs.

Yesterday marked the launch of Lancashire Constabuary’s annual Drink Drive Campaign.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Cooke said the message behind the seasonal crackdown was getting through to most people, but there was still a small number who were putting their own lives and others at risk.

He said: “In today’s day and age, is one person drink driving not one too many?

“Is one door knock to a parent or spouse saying their loved one is dead not one too many? A lot of people are still over the limit the morning after and that’s as dangerous as the night before.

“Drink driving is not acceptable. You will be treated as a criminal, you may lose your job, you may lose your family and, most importantly, you may lose your life or take someone else's.

“Over Christmas I will ensure that Lancashire Police have a real campaign on drink driving, for the safety of all road users and all pedestrians. We want people to enjoy Christmas, but that taxi fair is not worth the risk.”

Mr Cooke said drink driving was still most prominent in younger drivers, but that in Lancashire, only 2.5 per cent of people breathalised test positive, compared to 4.5 per cent nationally.

“Some young males still think it’s acceptable, they think they won’t get caught and they think they’re good drivers when they’ve been drinking.

“I can assure them they are not and they will get caught.”