Nissan is encouraging drivers to ‘hit the bottle’ – but that’s bottles of water, NOT alcohol. They want to raise awareness of the impact dehydration on drivers and the implications that has on road safety.

While the dangers of driving after consuming alcohol are widely understood, there’s relatively little research on safe hydration levels for drivers. But, a 2015 study funded by the European Hydration Institute and carried out by Loughborough University, UK, discovered that:

• Drivers who had consumed only a sip of water (25ml) per hour made more than double the number of mistakes on the road than those who were properly hydrated

• The number of errors was equivalent to those displayed by people with a blood alcohol content of 0.08% - the current UK drink-drive limit

• Mistakes included late-braking, drifting within a lane and even crossing lane lines

• Furthermore, approximately two-thirds of drivers are unable to recognise the symptoms of dehydration – tiredness, dizziness, headache, a dry mouth and slower reaction times.

The simple act of drinking more water can help address the issue. Nissan has showcased an innovative solution. In conjunction with Dutch design brand Droog, a state-of-the-art sweat-sensing technology coating called SOAK has been integrated into a Nissan Juke crossover. By applying it to the Juke’s steering wheel and front seats, the result is a simple yet effective alert system to warn drivers that they need to drink more water.

To raise awareness of the impact of driving while dehydrated, Racing driver Lucas Ordonez, inaugural winner of the Nissan GT Academy and today a NISMO (Nissan Motorsport) athlete, features in a video.

Doctor Harj Chaggar, medical consultant for NISMO, commented: “While many athletes are well-versed on keeping hydrated, many people outside the sporting sphere remain unaware of the impact of dehydration on physiological performance. Sweat-sensing technology built into a car is an innovative way of highlighting this, aiding prevention by warning the driver directly.”

While Nissan currently has no plans to add sweat-sensing technology into the Juke, it illustrates the brand’s approach to innovation and pioneering safety technology. The Juke already features many advanced Nissan Intelligent Mobility technologies. These include Intelligent Around View Monitor with Moving Object Detection, Blind Spot Warning and Lane Departure Warning.