WA theory test alcohol drugs and fatigue practice questions

Question 1

You hold a Western Australian learner's permit. How does the alcohol limit apply to you?

• The same 0.05 limit applies to every licence holder
• No limit applies while a supervising driver is with you
• A much lower limit applies to novice drivers than to full licence holders, so the safe course is not to drink at all before drivingCorrect answer
• The limit applies only after dark

Novice drivers are held to a stricter limit than full licence holders because they are still building experience. Treating it as none at all removes any doubt.

Rule cited: Drive Safe handbook (WA Department of Transport), Alcohol and driving

Question 2

What is a standard drink?

• Any single glass of any alcoholic drink
• One full bottle of light beer
• The amount an average adult can drink each hour with no effect
• A measure containing a set amount of alcohol, which is often smaller than a drink poured at homeCorrect answer

Home poured drinks and many bar servings hold more than one standard drink. Counting glasses rather than standard drinks is how people end up over the limit.

Rule cited: Drive Safe handbook (WA Department of Transport), Alcohol and driving

Question 3

You drank heavily until late last night and have slept for several hours. Can you drive in the morning?

• Yes, because sleep clears alcohol from the body
• Not necessarily, because your blood alcohol may still be over the limitCorrect answer
• Yes, as long as you feel fine
• Yes, provided you eat a large breakfast first

Alcohol leaves the body at a slow, fixed rate that sleep does not change. Morning after driving is a common way people lose a licence.

Rule cited: Drive Safe handbook (WA Department of Transport), Alcohol and driving

Question 4

What can police do about drugs and driving at the roadside?

• Nothing, because only a blood test taken at a hospital counts
• Test only drivers who have already been in a crash
• Carry out roadside drug tests, and driving with those drugs in your system is an offenceCorrect answer
• Test only drivers who have also been drinking

Roadside drug testing sits alongside breath testing. There is no legal level for illegal drugs, so any detected amount is an offence.

Rule cited: Drive Safe handbook (WA Department of Transport), Drugs and driving

Question 5

What happens when alcohol is combined with medication that causes drowsiness?

• The medication cancels out the effect of the alcohol
• There is no interaction if the medicine was prescribed
• The effect is the same as taking the medicine on its own
• The combined effect on your driving can be far greater than either one aloneCorrect answer

Alcohol and sedating medicines multiply each other. If a label warns about drowsiness, do not add alcohol and do not drive.

Rule cited: Drive Safe handbook (WA Department of Transport), Drugs and driving

Question 6

Which of these is an early warning sign of fatigue while driving?

• Feeling unusually alert and talkative
• Yawning, sore eyes and drifting within your laneCorrect answer
• Wanting to stop for a meal
• Finding the radio too quiet

Fatigue creeps up before you feel sleepy. Once you are yawning or wandering in the lane you are already impaired.

Rule cited: Drive Safe handbook (WA Department of Transport), Fatigue

Question 7

How should you plan a long country drive to manage fatigue?

• Drive through the night while the roads are quiet
• Set off straight after a long day at work to save time
• Build in rest breaks about every two hours and share the driving if you canCorrect answer
• Drive without stopping so the trip is over sooner

Regular breaks and a shared workload keep you alert. Long empty roads are the ones where fatigue crashes happen.

Rule cited: Drive Safe handbook (WA Department of Transport), Fatigue

Question 8

What is a microsleep?

• A short rest break taken at a roadside stop
• A daydream that does not affect your driving
• A brief loss of vision caused by oncoming headlights
• A few seconds of sleep you may not even notice, during which the vehicle travels a long way unattendedCorrect answer

A microsleep can last several seconds, which at highway speed is a long stretch of road with nobody steering. It is a sign you must stop and sleep.

Rule cited: Drive Safe handbook (WA Department of Transport), Fatigue