Alcohol, drugs and driver fitness
Alcohol, drugs and fitness questions are about impairment, not morality. The examiner wants you to know the legal limit, how alcohol affects driving, and why time is the only cure.
The legal limit
- The general limit for drivers in Fiji is 0.05% blood alcohol concentration (50 mg per 100 mL of blood). Learner and provisional drivers are held to a stricter standard and should not drink at all before driving.
- Police may require a breath test; refusing or failing to provide a sample is itself an offence.
What alcohol does
- Slows reaction time and decision-making.
- Narrows attention and reduces peripheral vision.
- Creates overconfidence: drivers feel more capable while performing worse.
- Impairs judgement of speed and distance.
Drugs, medicine and fitness
- Illegal drugs, cannabis and some prescription medicines impair driving; a lawful prescription is not a defence if you are unfit.
- Read labels for drowsiness warnings and ask a pharmacist about driving.
- Fatigue, illness, poor eyesight and stress all reduce fitness to drive.
- Mobile phone use, including texting and holding the phone, takes your eyes and mind off the road.
Worked example
A driver has three standard drinks between 9 pm and 11 pm and plans to drive at midnight. The body clears roughly one standard drink per hour, so by midnight only about one hour's worth has been eliminated. The driver is likely still over 0.05% and unfit. Coffee, a cold shower and fresh air do not speed up elimination; only time does.
Traps
- Believing coffee, food or sleep 'sobers you up'.
- Driving the morning after a heavy night: you can still be over the limit.
- Assuming a prescription medicine is safe because it is legal.
- Thinking you drive better after a small amount because you feel relaxed.
- Forgetting that fatigue and alcohol multiply each other.