Alcohol, drugs, medication, fatigue and fitness to ride (áfengi, fíkniefni, lyf og þreyta)
What this domain tests
Whether you can recognise when you are not fit to ride, and whether you know the legal limits and the practical time course of alcohol and drugs in the body.
The limits
Iceland's blood alcohol limit is 0.05 % (0.5 per mille). There is no separate higher limit for experienced riders and no lower one for novices - it is 0.05 % for everyone. Illegal drugs are zero tolerance: any trace is an offence. Prescribed medicine that impairs your riding is also an offence, even though a doctor supplied it. Refusing a breath, blood or urine test is itself an offence.
How alcohol behaves
A standard drink raises blood alcohol by roughly 0.02 % in an 80 kg man and considerably more in a lighter person. The body clears only about 0.01–0.015 % per hour. Coffee, cold air, food and a shower change nothing. A heavy evening can leave you over the limit at breakfast.
Worked example
A 60 kg rider has three standard drinks over two hours and feels entirely normal. Her estimated blood alcohol is around 0.09–0.10 % - roughly double the Icelandic limit. She is unfit to ride, and "I felt fine" is not a defence.
Fatigue and fitness
Fatigue slows reaction time and causes microsleeps that you cannot fight. Take a break of at least 15 minutes every two hours, and stop for the night when you are tired rather than pushing on. Illness, injury, dehydration, cold and some eyesight conditions all count as unfitness. Read the label on any medicine and ask the pharmacy (lyfjabúð) whether it is compatible with riding.
Traps
"I only had one." "I slept for a few hours, so I'm fine." "It's prescribed, so it's legal to ride on." All three are wrong and all three appear in the question bank. Penalties include income-linked fines, loss of licence and imprisonment.