One of the worst driving experiences I ever had was when I went to Stevenage. That wasn’t even the worst bit, though.
No, the worst bit was that I had been driving all night with only the help of about half a dozen small cappuccinos coursing through my veins. At one point I felt my head shoot up from a nodding position and realised that I had fallen asleep behind the wheel for the first time.
I had probably only closed my eyes for a second or two but that could have been enough to have caused a disastrous accident. I was reminded of this horrible moment today when I read that a survey in the UK by Brake and Direct Line has revealed that 31% of us have fallen asleep behind the wheel at some point.
This is a pretty terrifying statistic and it makes me wonder whether there are some easy tips to stop this happening in the future?
Take Regular Breaks
In that drive to Stevenage I drove all night to get from my parent’s home in Scotland to my place of work in Hertfordshire. If I am being honest, I knew fine well that having a kip somewhere along the way was the sensible thing to do. However, I was in a rush and I thought that pumping my system full of cappuccino would be enough to keep me awake. I even tried to do the trip in one go without any stops at all. This is a terrible idea and you really need to take regular breaks along the way.
Get Fresh Air
There is really nothing else as important as taking regular breaks while you drive. Having said that, getting fresh air is also pretty important. Rolling the window down while you drive is ok but you should really consider making this part of your breaks. Instead of sitting in the car for 5 minute at a service station you could get out and stretch your legs before or after resting your eyes. You will feel a lot better for it and should get to your destination more safely too.
Have you nodded off behind the wheel before?