Alabama · Handbook chapter 4 · 5 min read

How emotions, phones, fatigue, alcohol and drugs affect driving in Alabama, the BAC limits and DUI penalties, implied consent, the two-second rule, stopping distances, what to do after a crash, and railroad crossing safety.

Why this chapter matters

The manual says more than 90 percent of crashes come from driver error, inattention, poor condition or bad judgment. This chapter covers the human side of driving, plus two places where mistakes are often fatal: crash scenes and railroad crossings.

Attitude, attention and fatigue

• Worry, anger, grief or strong emotion make you more likely to crash. If you are upset, let someone else drive.
• Driving is a full-time job: no daydreaming or distracting conversation.
• Alabama bans using a wireless device to write, send or read texts, instant messages or email while driving. Since June 2024, holding a phone is also a violation when a driver weaves, swerves or drives improperly.
• If you feel drowsy, stop at the first rest area. Take breaks every 100 miles or two hours. Do not rely on stay-awake drugs.
• Highway hypnosis comes from monotony; keep your eyes moving near and far, left and right.

Alcohol

• Alcohol is a depressant, not a stimulant. It slows reflexes, blurs vision and harms judgment and coordination, while making you overconfident.
• A .05 BAC impairs most people to some degree; at .08 everyone is impaired.
• One bottle of beer has about the same alcohol as a shot of whiskey or a glass of wine.
• Food in your stomach slows the effect, but only time sobers you. Coffee, food or a cold shower do not.

You can also be convicted for driving under the influence of drugs, or alcohol and drugs together.

DUI penalties

Implied consent

By driving on Alabama's public roads you agree to chemical tests of blood, breath or urine. A driver arrested for DUI who refuses a breath test has the license suspended.

Drugs

• Ask your doctor about side effects of prescriptions. Cold and allergy remedies can contain codeine, alcohol, antihistamines or bromides, which affect driving.
• Antihistamines can cause drowsiness and confusion; barbiturates can mimic drunkenness.
• Illegal drugs such as LSD and heroin, and marijuana, should never be mixed with driving.
• Alcohol and drugs together multiply each other's effects, not just add.

Following distance and stopping

• Use the two-second rule: when the car ahead passes a fixed object, count "one thousand one, one thousand two." Reach it sooner and you are too close.
• In bad weather, or in a longer vehicle, stretch it to four or five seconds.

Reaction time, road surface, tires, brakes, vehicle design and wind all change the real distance.

After a crash

• Stop at once and help anyone injured. Call for medical help and warn traffic with flags or flares.
• Do not move injured people unless fire or another danger forces it.
• Give your name, address and registration number and show your license to others involved.
• Report injury or fatal crashes quickly to local police in a city or to State Troopers on a state highway.
• Send a written SR-31 within 30 days if there was injury, death or damage of $500 or more and the at-fault party was uninsured.
• If you hit an unattended vehicle, notify police, find the owner, or leave a note with your name and address where it can be seen.

Railroad crossings

• The round yellow RR sign is placed about 750 feet before the tracks. Pavement may show a large X with RR.
• Stop when lights flash, and stay stopped until gates rise and lights stop. Never drive around gates.
• When you must stop, stop within 15 to 50 feet of the crossing.
• School buses, church buses, passenger buses and trucks carrying hazardous materials must always stop before crossing, so be ready when following them.
• Do not change gears on the tracks. Watch for a second train.
• A freight train at 55 mph needs a mile or more to stop.
• If you stall on the tracks, get everyone out and away at once.