Road_to_Solo_driving_handbook (2)

Rules and responsibilities
72
The effects of alcohol on driving
Alcohol affected drivers:
• feel overconfident and take risks
• are often unaware of the level of
their driving impairment
• have slower reflexes and poorer
co-ordination making it less likely
that they will be able to stop or
swerve in an emergency
• are less able to process information
and make appropriate decisions as
their vision, hearing and brain are
all affected.
A driver who has been drinking
struggles to judge speeds and
distances accurately and will often fail
to respond to potential dangers in the
traffic environment.
The ability to cope with more than one
thing at a time is greatly reduced (for
example, steer a course within a lane,
respond to traffic signals and avoid a
pedestrian who steps onto the road).
What are the risks?
RISK OF ACCIDENTS
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
fig 9.
.02 .04 .06 .08 .10 .12 .14 .16
BAC (BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION)
Relative chance of crashing
as your BAC increases
The risk of being involved in a crash
increases dramatically if the driver has
been drinking alcohol. The graph shows
the average relationship between the
risk of having a crash and the amount of
alcohol in the blood. For inexperienced
drivers the risk at any BAC level above
zero will be even higher.
Factors affecting BAC
Alcohol affects different people in
different ways and can even affect the
same person on different occasions in
different ways. You can drink the same
amount of alcohol on different days and
have different BAC readings each time.
Some of the factors that affect BAC
include:
• gender – a woman drinking the
same amount of alcohol as a
man of a similar size will have
a higher BAC
• body size – a person of small build
will have a higher BAC than a larger
person drinking the same amount
of alcohol
• food consumption – food slows
down the absorption of alcohol so,
if you have not had a substantial
meal before drinking, you will reach
a higher BAC more quickly
• rate of drinking and the types of
alcohol consumed – the quicker