roadwise.Open study app

Utah driving lesson · Alcohol, Drugs & DUI

How alcohol and drugs affect driving

A 3-minute lesson from the Utah course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

Study this lesson in the app Back to the course
Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Alcohol, Drugs & DUI
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
60, 61

Alcohol and other impairing drugs are involved in approximately 40% of all traffic crashes in which someone is killed each year. Even a little alcohol raises your crash risk, because impairment starts with the first drink.

40%

Share of yearly fatal traffic crashes that involve alcohol or other impairing drugs (approximately)

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Alcohol and impairing drugs reduce your:

  • Judgment: the brain's use of stored experience and knowledge to handle new problems quickly
  • Vision: blurring, slow focusing, double vision, and poor judging of distance, speed, and movement
  • Color distinction: your ability to tell colors apart
  • Reaction time: how fast you process information and respond
Handbook p. 60 ↗
0.02 BAC

Blood alcohol content at which vision is impacted for all drivers

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Know the rule

Vision is the most important sense you use in driving.

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Know the rule

Impairment starts with the first drink. With one or more drinks in the bloodstream, a person is visibly impaired and could be arrested for DUI. The best advice: don't drive after consuming alcohol or other drugs.

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Drugs that can impair driving like alcohol:

  • Illegal drugs
  • Over-the-counter drugs
  • Prescribed drugs
Handbook p. 60 ↗

Know the rule

Don't take drugs and alcohol at the same time. Alcohol can have unpredictable effects on how drugs react in your body.

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Know the rule

Never let a friend or relative drive if they have been drinking.

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Know the rule

Emotions (being overly worried, excited, afraid, angry, or depressed) interfere with thinking, attention, and processing information.

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Dealing with strong emotions:

  • Give yourself time to cool off: take a short walk or nap and stay off the road until symptoms pass
  • Give yourself extra time for the trip; leave a few minutes early
  • Have someone else drive
Handbook p. 61 ↗

Put it into practice

After two beers at a barbecue, you feel fine. But impairment starts with the first drink, and with alcohol in your bloodstream you could be arrested for DUI. You hand your keys to a friend who hasn't been drinking.

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.

At what BAC does vision become impaired for all drivers, according to the handbook?
  1. 0.05
  2. 0.08
  3. 0.02
  4. 0.04

Answer: 0.02

Vision is impacted at 0.02 blood alcohol content for all drivers.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
Alcohol and other impairing drugs are involved in about what percentage of fatal traffic crashes?
  1. 10%
  2. 40%
  3. 60%
  4. 25%

Answer: 40%

Alcohol and other impairing drugs are involved in approximately 40% of all traffic crashes in which someone is killed.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
Alcohol and drugs reduce a driver's judgment, vision, and reaction time.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: True

Alcohol and impairing drugs reduce judgment, vision, color distinction, and reaction time.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
Alcohol does not impair your driving until your BAC reaches the 0.05 legal limit.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: False

Impairment starts with the first drink, and vision is affected at 0.02 BAC.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
According to the handbook, which sense is the most important one you use in driving?
  1. Hearing
  2. Touch
  3. Balance
  4. Vision

Answer: Vision

The handbook states that the most important sense you use in driving is vision, which alcohol blurs and slows.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
Should alcohol and other drugs be taken at the same time?
  1. No, alcohol can unpredictably affect how drugs react in the body
  2. Yes, they cancel each other's effects
  3. Yes, if taken in small amounts
  4. Only over-the-counter drugs are a concern

Answer: No, alcohol can unpredictably affect how drugs react in the body

Alcohol can have an unpredictable effect on drugs, so drugs and alcohol should not be taken together.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
Take the lesson checkpoint in the app

More in Alcohol, Drugs & DUI

All Utah lessons