GETTING DROWSY? TAKE A BREAK.
WRECK-LESS DRIVING©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist
GETTING DROWSY? TAKE A BREAK.
CISNE, IL.: geraldenek@isp.ed? sent us this message. She tells of driving her 6 wheeler home from St. Louis on US 60 and trying to stay awake with the window open and the CB radio blaring. Suddenly she was aware that the 3 right side wheels were running on gravel and that her next stop was going to be a roadside drainage ditch. Fortunately the only damage was to her future self-confidence.
About 100,000 auto crashes and 1,500 deaths occur each year because the driver failed to stop when drowsy. And many of these are more severe because the long distance driver has been shorting his/her sleep for several days running.
If a long trip is planned be sure to get maximum rest and sleep the day and night before. Loading up on refined carbohydrate meals and snacks (sugar, white flour) is a bad move because low blood sugar and drowsiness will appear in a few hours. Caffeine beverages are OK for awhile but after a few hours can lead also to low blood sugar levels. Safe drivers allow enough time for stretch/rest stops every 2 hours or so. We call it “walking the dog”. Changing drivers is even better. I buy only 10 gallons of fuel at a stop. This forces me to stop every 2 hours or so.
A 20 minute nap is the best way to recover from a sleepy feeling. Taking a nap at a roadside rest stop can itself be dangerous, especially for a woman traveling alone. It has gotten so bad in some locales that armed security personnel are there all 24 hours. We regularly see daytime sleepers in vehicles on fast food parking lots. Perhaps they feel safer in crowds. A $80 motel room, even for a few hours, is a lot cheaper than the aftermath of getting mugged, or worse.
GHD171 all rights reserved
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist
GETTING DROWSY? TAKE A BREAK.
CISNE, IL.: geraldenek@isp.ed? sent us this message. She tells of driving her 6 wheeler home from St. Louis on US 60 and trying to stay awake with the window open and the CB radio blaring. Suddenly she was aware that the 3 right side wheels were running on gravel and that her next stop was going to be a roadside drainage ditch. Fortunately the only damage was to her future self-confidence.
About 100,000 auto crashes and 1,500 deaths occur each year because the driver failed to stop when drowsy. And many of these are more severe because the long distance driver has been shorting his/her sleep for several days running.
If a long trip is planned be sure to get maximum rest and sleep the day and night before. Loading up on refined carbohydrate meals and snacks (sugar, white flour) is a bad move because low blood sugar and drowsiness will appear in a few hours. Caffeine beverages are OK for awhile but after a few hours can lead also to low blood sugar levels. Safe drivers allow enough time for stretch/rest stops every 2 hours or so. We call it “walking the dog”. Changing drivers is even better. I buy only 10 gallons of fuel at a stop. This forces me to stop every 2 hours or so.
A 20 minute nap is the best way to recover from a sleepy feeling. Taking a nap at a roadside rest stop can itself be dangerous, especially for a woman traveling alone. It has gotten so bad in some locales that armed security personnel are there all 24 hours. We regularly see daytime sleepers in vehicles on fast food parking lots. Perhaps they feel safer in crowds. A $80 motel room, even for a few hours, is a lot cheaper than the aftermath of getting mugged, or worse.
GHD171 all rights reserved
posted by WRECK-LESS at Friday, June 22, 2007
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home