How do alcohol or drugs affect a driver's capabilities?

Alcohol and drugs have a significant impact on a driver's capabilities, affecting multiple essential functions necessary for safe driving. When alcohol or drugs are consumed, they can impair vision, causing reduced awareness of surroundings, difficulty in distinguishing colors, and problems with depth perception. These visual impairments make it challenging to judge distances and recognize hazards.

Judgment is another critical area affected by substances. Both alcohol and drugs can lead to poor decision-making, causing drivers to underestimate risks, engage in risky behaviors such as speeding or aggressive driving, or fail to recognize their level of impairment.

Additionally, reaction time, which refers to how quickly a driver can respond to unexpected situations, can be severely slowed. Impairment caused by substances can result in delayed reflexes, making it harder to brake in time to avoid a collision or respond to changing conditions on the road.

Ultimately, the impairment of vision, judgment, and reaction time collectively contributes to a significant increase in the risk of accidents when driving under the influence, demonstrating the comprehensive impact of alcohol and drugs on a driver's overall capabilities.