A 3-minute lesson from the Texas course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Any drug, including over-the-counter and prescription medicine, can affect the mental and physical skills you need to drive. Safe driving requires an observant eye, a steady hand, and a clear head, and alcohol or drugs attack all three.
Among the first effects of alcohol or drugs: you lose judgment and your sight is impaired, causing slower reactions to sounds and an inability to judge another vehicle's speed. Your ability to reason can all but disappear.
Taking more than one drug at a time is even more dangerous. Alcohol escalates the effects of other drugs and can mask them. Check with a doctor or pharmacist before mixing drugs, especially tranquilizers or sedatives.
You took an allergy pill this morning and now feel sleepy, and a friend offers you a beer before you drive home. The antihistamine can already cause drowsiness, and alcohol increases depressant effects. Skip the beer, and if you still feel drowsy, don't drive.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
How does typical social-dose marijuana use affect a driver, according to the handbook?
It has no measurable effect on driving
It can impair concentration and judgment
It affects only night vision
It slightly improves reaction time
Answer: It can impair concentration and judgment
Even typical social doses of marijuana can impair concentration, judgment, and sensory and perceptual skills.