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To drive safely, you need to stay alert, use good judgement, and react in time. If anything impairs these abilities, your driving is affected, increasing the risk of misjudgements and accidents.
This chapter explains how different risk factors affect driving, which rules apply, and what you need to consider.
Alcohol is a common cause of impaired judgement in drivers, but there are several other factors that can also impair driving ability. In the traffic regulations, the rules on this are summarised in a single sentence:
"Vehicles must not be driven by anyone who, due to illness, fatigue, the influence of alcohol, other stimulating or anaesthetic substances, or for other reasons, cannot drive the vehicle in a safe manner."
Several risk factors can also interact and reinforce each other. For example, fatigue, illness, alcohol, and certain medications can together impair driving ability much more than each factor on its own.
This chapter covers several common risk factors, but fatigue, stress, and peer pressure can also impair your driving ability.
If you have not read those chapters yet, you can read them here:
Read more about fatigue
Read more about stress and peer pressure
Remember: If anything impairs your attention, judgement, or reaction ability, you must not drive.
Alcohol is socially accepted in many situations, but in traffic it is a very serious problem. Every day, at least 15,000 journeys are made by drivers who are so affected by alcohol that they would be convicted of drink driving if they were caught. About 20–30% of all drivers killed in traffic have alcohol in their blood.
A large proportion of fatal traffic accidents are caused by drunk drivers
Even at low blood alcohol levels, the accident risk increases clearly, and the risk rises quickly as the alcohol level increases.
The accident risk is about 1.4 times higher at 0.5 per mille, almost 5 times higher at 1.0 per mille, and around 20 times higher at 1.5 per mille compared with a sober driver. For young and inexperienced drivers, the risk increases even more than it does for older and more experienced drivers.
Per mille shows how much alcohol you have in your blood. For example, 1 per mille means there is 1 part alcohol per 1,000 parts blood. The higher the per mille level, the more it affects your body and impairs your driving ability.
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It is a traffic offence to drive with an illegal amount of alcohol in your blood. You can be convicted of drunken driving at 0.2 per mille and of aggravated drunken driving at 1.0 per mille. You can also be convicted at lower levels if the alcohol has affected your ability to drive safely or if your driving has posed a significant danger to traffic safety.
The penalty for drink driving is a fine or imprisonment for up to six months. The driving licence is also revoked, usually for 12 months. The penalty for aggravated drink driving is imprisonment for up to two years. The driving licence is also revoked, usually for 24 months.
The blood alcohol limits for drunk driving and aggravated drunk driving are 0.2 and 1.0 per mille, respectively
It is not only illegal to drive intoxicated, but also to lend your vehicle to someone who is intoxicated. Doing so knowingly may lead to a conviction for aiding and abetting drunk driving or aiding and abetting aggravated drunk driving.
People who have had, or risk having, their driving licence revoked because of drink driving or aggravated drink driving may in some cases apply for a driving licence with an alcohol interlock condition instead of being without a licence. This option applies only when the offence involved alcohol, not other drugs or narcotic-classified substances.
An alcohol interlock or breath alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID) is a breathalyser that prevents a vehicle being started by a non-sober driver. Anyone who has a driver's licence with conditions on alcohol interlock may only drive a car equipped with a personal alcohol interlock.
All alcohol interlock breath tests are registered and saved. A failed breath test leads to a revoked driver's licence
The conditional period is one or two years, depending on what led to the application. The penalty, that is, the fine or prison sentence, is not affected by this, but is carried out as usual.
Your driver's licence can also be revoked, and it may be difficult to obtain a driving permit, if there is information suggesting that you may be at risk of driving under the influence. For example, this may be the case if the police have taken you into custody for intoxication on repeated occasions. This applies even if you were not driving a car or any other motor vehicle.
Alcohol impairs your judgment and performance and reduces your ability to make realistic assessments. It also impairs your vision and ability to judge distance and speed.
Alcohol affects us in the following way:
The per mille numbers above refer to blood alcohol concentration.
Alcohol starts to affect you even in small amounts. The more you drink, the stronger the effects become, even if you do not feel it yourself. But it is not about how affected you feel – if you have consumed alcohol, you are affected and should therefore not drive.
Even small amounts of alcohol can impair your driving ability
We are all different and are therefore affected differently by alcohol. Factors that influence your blood alcohol level after a certain amount of alcohol include body weight, what and how much you have eaten, your health, how much you have slept, and how much water you have had to drink.
Your blood alcohol level can therefore vary greatly between different occasions, even if you drink exactly the same amount and type of alcohol. This means that you can never rely on how unaffected you feel, or assume that the same amount of alcohol will affect you in the same way every time.
Many medications strengthen the effects of alcohol. Alcohol combined with certain medications, such as sedatives, can therefore greatly impair your driving ability or even be directly life-threatening.
How we are affected by alcohol varies from person to person
On average, the body breaks down about 0.15 per mille of alcohol per hour. This is equivalent to about two centilitres of an alcoholic drink of 40 percent strength. However, this burn rate is also individual and can vary greatly depending on a number of factors. You should therefore not assume that it is safe to drive based on a calculation of how much alcohol your body has broken down over time. If you miscalculate, it can have serious consequences for you and for others.
It is not possible to increase the pace at which our body burns off alcohol. This process takes place in the liver, and you cannot affect the rate at which it works. Taking a sauna, exercising, drinking coffee or any other "miracle cure" might make you feel better, but these things do not affect how quickly the body metabolises alcohol.
Furthermore, even if you no longer have alcohol in your body, this does not necessarily mean you are fit to drive. Your driving ability can be reduced by up to 20% the day after drinking, even after you have metabolised all the alcohol you have consumed.
Your driving ability is greatly reduced the day after drinking alcohol
It is not uncommon for drivers to be arrested for drunk driving the day after drinking alcohol.
Do not take chances – alcohol can remain in your body the day after drinking. Do not drive if you are unsure.
It is easy to underestimate how much alcohol common alcoholic drinks contain. For example, a large can of mid-strength beer (folköl) can contain more alcohol than 4 centilitres of vodka.
Spirit (40% alcohol) equivalents in beer and wine:
Four large mid-strength beers contain more than 17 cl spirits
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Certain medications can affect you so strongly that you become an unsafe driver. They can cause such major problems with hearing, seeing clearly, staying awake, concentrating, and reacting quickly that you cannot legally drive.
Some medications affect you only when you start taking them or after you stop taking them, while others affect you every time you take them. How long a medication affects you is individual and can therefore vary from person to person. The effects of many medications can also become much stronger in combination with even small amounts of alcohol.
To find out how a medication can affect you, you can read the medication's information sheet or ask a doctor or pharmacy staff.
It is your responsibility to determine whether a medication affects your ability to drive safely
The rules on medication are simple: you must not drive if the medication affects you so that you cannot drive safely. You are always responsible for judging whether you are fit to drive. If you make a wrong judgement and drive dangerously, you may be convicted of drunk driving even if the medication was prescribed by a doctor.
If you drive with a narcotic-classified medication in your body that has not been prescribed to you, you may also be convicted of drink driving, even if you have not driven dangerously or been involved in an accident.
You may be found guilty of drunk driving or aggravated drunk driving if you have taken a:
If you take a medication that makes you sluggish, tired, dizzy, groggy or slow you should not drive
You should always refrain from driving if you have taken one or more medications and exhibit any of the following symptoms:
In Sweden, there is a zero limit for narcotics in traffic. This includes illegal drugs and other substances classified as narcotics. This means that you must not drive with narcotics in your blood, regardless of whether you are affected or not. There is no permitted minimum level.
Since many drugs and narcotic-classified substances remain in the blood for a long time, you may be convicted of driving under the influence of narcotics long after taking them.
The only exception to the zero limit applies to narcotic-classified medications taken according to a doctor's prescription. However, you must not drive if the medication affects you so that you cannot drive safely.
It is forbidden to drive with narcotics in the blood
Drugs affect the body in different ways than alcohol, and individuals can react very differently to various substances. Cocaine and amphetamines often lead to hyperactivity and a greatly increased sense of overconfidence. These substances suppress the feeling of tiredness without counteracting the actual fatigue. As a result, a person under the influence can suddenly collapse behind the wheel without having felt tired beforehand.
Hash, marijuana, and other cannabis products can cause hallucinations, a distorted perception of reality, and increased overconfidence. They impair reaction time, spatial orientation, and the ability to register and process external stimuli. Cannabis also has an acute negative effect on coordination, which significantly impairs driving ability and increases the risk of traffic accidents. This impairment can persist for up to 24 hours after cannabis use.
THC, the psychoactive substance in cannabis, can be detected in the blood for up to 24 hours after single use. In cases of regular or heavy use, THC can be detected in the blood for up to two weeks after the last intake.
It is prohibited to drive if you cannot drive in a safe manner due to illness. This means that if you are so ill that your driving ability is impaired, it is just as illegal to drive as it is when you are fatigued or under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or unsuitable medication.
Examples of conditions that can impair your driving ability include fever, dizziness, impaired vision, severe pain, and a risk of fainting – all of which can make it difficult to react, judge, or control the vehicle safely.
If your ability to drive safely is impaired due to illness, you are not allowed to drive
Do not take chances – always contact your doctor before getting behind the wheel if you are unsure whether your medical condition is making you unfit for driving.
Strong emotions can affect you as a driver, often negatively. If you are very angry, sad, upset, or stressed, your judgement may be impaired and the risk of impulsive or unwise decisions may increase. If you feel that your emotions are taking over, you should wait to drive until you have calmed down.
Studies have shown that drivers who are angry, upset, or crying behind the wheel are 10 times more likely to be involved in an accident than calm drivers.
Irritation, anger and other strong emotions make most people worse drivers
Driving with one hand and using a mobile phone with the other is associated with very high risks. For that reason, it is completely prohibited to hold a mobile phone in your hand while driving.
This means that it is not allowed to talk on the phone, send text messages, browse the internet, or use the phone in any other way if you are holding it in your hand.
Studies show that texting while driving is especially risky, because you both take your eyes off the road and focus on something other than driving. The same applies when browsing, playing mobile games, or using social media.
Texting behind the wheel is especially dangerous
It is allowed to talk on the phone as long as you are not holding it. However, for safety reasons, you should still avoid doing so.
This is because a phone conversation does not adapt to the traffic situation in the same way as a conversation with a passenger. If a complicated situation arises, a passenger will often understand that the driver needs to concentrate and will pause the conversation.
A person on the phone cannot see what is happening and may continue talking or expect a response, which increases the risk of distraction. Even if you are not holding the phone, the conversation itself can distract you and affect your attention and judgement, especially if it is emotional or demanding.
You should therefore avoid phone calls while driving, especially in complicated or demanding traffic situations.
