Step 3 » GENERAL learning environment Category C (C, C1)

The consumption of alcohol, even in small amounts, significantly affects thinking, reflexes and self-control, directly influencing the ability to make correct decisions in traffic. Under the influence of alcohol, drivers can underestimate dangers, can ignore traffic rules and can assume dangerous maneuvers, such as reckless overtaking or excessive speed.

Also, alcohol can induce an excessive state of relaxation or a false confidence in one’s own abilities, reducing vigilance and reaction time in critical situations. This combination between risky decisions and delayed reactions considerably increases the risk of road accidents, endangering both the safety of the driver and of the other participants in traffic.

Alcohol is responsible for the following effects:

• the level of attention concentration decreases very much;
• misjudging distances and speeds;
• it diminishes judgment and disturbs reasoning;
• it increases reaction time;
• reflexes decrease;
• the underestimation of dangers and risks in traffic;
• the decrease of precision.

The phases of alcohol consumption:

• first phase: the driver has the false impression that he can achieve more at the wheel than usual;
• second phase: in the driver’s mental and physical state a drop appears, he becomes confused and the movement of the motor vehicle becomes sinuous (zigzagging);
• third phase: the driver no longer hits the controls.

The correct answer is: B