Step 3 » GENERAL learning environment Category D (D, D1, Tb, Tv)

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

Also, alcohol can induce a state of excessive relaxation or a false confidence in one's own abilities, reducing alertness 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 traffic participants.

Alcohol is responsible for the following effects:

• the level of attention concentration decreases very much;
• the mistaken evaluation of distances and speeds;
• it diminishes discernment 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:

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

The correct answer is: B