Module 2/Lesson 2 of 6
Physical & Mental Readiness
How illness, fatigue, medications and emotions affect your ability to drive safely.
Before You Drive
Before heading out, check that you feel right about your physical, mental and emotional condition, your vehicle, and the conditions you'll be driving in. If any of those leave you unsure, stay put and don't drive.
How fit you are to drive can shift from one day to the next. Each of the following can sharply reduce your ability to operate a motor vehicle:
- Fatigue
- Illness
- Stress
- Prescription and over-the-counter drugs
- Mental or emotional state
Weigh these things before you set out, and don't get behind the wheel when you aren't fit to do so.
Warning
Whenever you're uncertain about being physically, mentally or emotionally ready to drive, leave the vehicle parked.
Physical Fitness to Drive
Driving calls for being in sound physical and mental shape.
- Stay off the road when you are sick or injured
- Don't drive after drinking alcohol, or after taking any drug or medication that could weaken your ability to drive
Fatigue
Never drive while tired. Dozing off at the wheel puts everyone else on the road in danger.
Fatigue undermines your driving even if you stay awake:
- Your thinking gets slower
- You overlook things you'd normally notice
- When an emergency hits, you may choose wrongly -- or fail to choose correctly in time
Important
Fatigue poses a real danger. Even short of dozing off, being tired dulls your thinking, narrows your awareness and weakens how you respond in an emergency.
Emotions
Stay parked when you're upset or angry. Intense feelings can dull how quickly you think and react.
Give yourself time to settle down before you take the wheel. Getting behind the wheel while emotionally distressed counts as a form of impaired driving.
Key takeaways
- Stay off the road if you are sick, injured, fatigued, or affected by alcohol or drugs
- Tiredness slows your thinking, makes you overlook things, and lengthens your reaction time
- Intense feelings such as anger and stress dull how fast you can think and react
- When you doubt your readiness to drive, leave the vehicle parked