A drowsy driver is just as dangerous as a drunk driver. Having drunk alcohol, many of us understand that we cannot drive and refuse to travel. Being tired and sleepy, we still decide to drive a vehicle, which significantly increases the risk of road accidents. How to overcome drowsiness when driving a car, what to do in a situation when we want to sleep while driving.
The statistics on the causes of road accidents are inexorable. Every fifth traffic accident with serious consequences occurs precisely because of drivers who fall asleep. Unfortunately, driving into oncoming traffic usually ends in casualties. That is why drivers need to soberly assess their situation and not get behind the wheel if they feel deathly tired. If on the road you realize that you are dying to sleep, then you should not try to somehow endure it and get to your destination. Even a fleeting 15-minute rest will be enough to cope with drowsiness and reach your home or your hotel completely safely on the road.
General practitioner Natalya Sergeevna Maslova answers:
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“There are several real signs that you are about to pass out: - you began to commit minor violations: you forgot to switch to low beam, stopped at green, did not react to another road sign, tensed up when reading readings from instruments; -if you begin to notice the process of blinking (in an alert state this happens by itself) - stop urgently; - if distant objects and figures along the road, as they approach, change shape, color, or even “disappear” from your field of vision, you are driving the car “on autopilot”, your brain is almost asleep. There are several tricks that will help you stay alert while driving.
Content:
- 1 What to do to avoid falling asleep while driving? 1.1 Communication
- 1.2 Music and audiobooks
- 1.3 Car wash before driving
- 1.4 How to avoid falling asleep while driving on the highway? Stock up on citrus fruits!
- 1.5 What to do to avoid falling asleep while driving? Try "antisleep"
- 1.6 Without shoes
- 2.1 To avoid falling asleep, try to adhere to the following recommendations:
More than 30% of accidents are caused by drivers who feel tired and fall asleep at the wheel. This is especially true if the motorist travels long distances, including at night. Monotonous conditions, occasionally flickering lights encourage the body to relax, the reaction decreases several times. At these moments, a tired driver becomes more dangerous than a person driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
What to do to avoid falling asleep while driving?
There are several tricks to help you stay alert while traveling by car. After reading the material below, you will learn what to do to avoid falling asleep while driving.
Communication
You shouldn't go on a long trip on your own. The presence of a passenger in the car plays a paramount role in creating a safe atmosphere. Conversations stimulate your brain to work, which means you don’t have to think about what to do to avoid falling asleep while driving. The person nearby will not only entertain, making thoughts of sleep evaporate, but will also promptly notice that it is time for the driver to rest.
Music and audiobooks
If it is impossible for a passenger to be present on the trip, the answer to the question “How not to fall asleep while driving?” lies in your favorite music. These could be musical compositions, radio. Interesting audiobooks, the plot of which can invigorate, are also relevant. However, when packing your audio luggage for the trip, make sure that the recordings you take with you really invigorate, and not vice versa, make you want to relax and sleep.
Car wash before the trip
The driver regularly drives tens of kilometers on city roads. A large amount of dust settles on the vehicle, leaving traces of gases. During the day, you are unlikely to notice these accumulations on car windows, which cannot be said about the evening time. The plaque refracts the headlights of oncoming cars, which blinds the eyes. This may cause a traffic accident. Therefore, before a long trip, it is better to visit a car wash to clean the windows on both sides. Using special products will help get rid of dust and oily stains.
How to avoid falling asleep while driving on the highway? Stock up on citrus fruits!
Citrus fruits have healing properties, they taste good and can invigorate you on the road. The fruits of lemon and orange contain glycolic acid in large quantities, which stimulates the functioning of the nervous system. To achieve the desired effect, just peel the fruit and spread it on the dashboard. Naturally, the juicy slices can be consumed. The aroma exuded by the zest will quickly fill the air in the cabin, providing a pleasant driving atmosphere. If the driver feels excessively tired, it is necessary to put a slice of lemon under the tongue. The acid will give you a dose of vigor and also improve your vision.
What can you do to avoid falling asleep while driving? Try "antisleep"
Besides citrus fruits, there are other ways to get rid of drowsiness. Manufacturers offer special devices that help control wakefulness. The gadget is fixed on the ear, and as soon as the head changes position, the “anti-sleep” emits a loud signal that will not allow it to go into the kingdom of Morpheus.
Without shoes
Another way to avoid falling asleep while driving is bare feet. As soon as you feel tired, you should take off your shoes, including your socks. This way you will cool your feet and invigorate yourself a little. You can also make a short stop for a light foot massage. To do this, you can use a special mat, the convexities on which affect acupuncture points responsible for the functioning of body systems, including the brain and nervous system.
How to avoid falling asleep while driving: tips
To stay awake, try to adhere to the following recommendations:
- Exercising will help you stay alert. Simple exercises can be done while stopping or while driving: rub your earlobes, do exercises with your eyes, stretch and retract your neck. The exercise is repeated several times.
- Temporary taboo on fatty and hearty dishes. Surely you have repeatedly noticed that after a hearty lunch, consisting of rich soups and a fatty second, you feel sleepy. Of course, few drivers take home-made meals with them on the road, preferring to “refuel” at fast food outlets. In this case, you should give up hamburgers, and banal snacks, for example, candies, crackers, and nuts, will help satisfy your hunger. This makes it easy to trick the body into thinking it is full. A piece of natural dark chocolate works great, the components of which will remove the drowsiness.
- Skip the air conditioner. Even if we are talking about the summer season, you should not use air conditioning in the dark. Open the windows, let in some fresh air, which will minimize the temperature and fill you with oxygen.
- Make frequent stops, standing at the side of the road every 150-200 km. To ensure a smooth trip, we recommend that you pre-calculate the number of stops. The optimal break time is a quarter of an hour. By sticking to a specific schedule, you won't get tired. Moreover, there is no need to fight the thought of rest.
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Concentration of attention
If drowsiness is noticed, the driver is advised to concentrate on certain objects.
Alternatively, you can start counting signs or poles and oncoming cars. At the same time, tracking one element, for example, a road marking line, can lull you to sleep. Changing your seating position, moving the seat to different positions, and gripping the steering wheel in different positions will help you cheer up. By paying attention to such little things, the driver is able to eliminate the feeling of monotony when driving along the highway.
Focus on the purpose of the trip
Every responsible driver should be aware of how much of the journey he can cover without any problems. Beginning motorists who do not have experience in long-distance travel should stop the vehicle more often, preferably every 50-100 km, while avoiding busy, busy roads.
As practice shows, it is much easier to drive if you understand where the next resting point is located on the map. Concentrating on your final destination also helps along the way.
Will not resolve
The published draft amendments (see below) are just a draft, so adjustments to the timing are still possible. It is unlikely that anyone will protest against their slight tightening, since the Ministry of Transport managed to convince many, even driver’s unions, that tachographs are worth a lot: they are capable of preventing casualties during transportation, especially passenger traffic, and achieving greater order in the industry... And it is useful to establish a systematic release of reliable information in the media information - thereby killing the “duck”.
Change your physical condition
If conversations do not help, tonic drinks do not give the desired effect, and food only makes you drowsy, then you should think about a little exercise for the body.
The first method does not require stopping. It is enough to tense and relax various muscle groups while driving. In this case, it would be a good idea to either open the window to let in fresh air or lower the degrees of the car’s air conditioner. If there is water, you can stop and wash your face. If you don’t have one, then simple wet wipes will do.
You can also get out of the car to get some fresh air and, for example, do some squats. If you are not afraid to get your hands dirty and have something to wash them with, then push-ups will help you cheer up.
Physical activity increases blood circulation and tones the body well. Moreover, it is good for health. Therefore, you should not be lazy. It’s better to stop on the side of the road once again and do exercises - you’ll be healthier.
We drink coffee and energy drinks
If for some reason it is not possible to stop and take a nap for literally 10-15 minutes, then you can fight drowsiness by drinking a cup of coffee or a can of energy drink. High-quality energy drinks are completely safe for the body, do not cause addiction, and charge us with energy for several hours. The same can be said about good coffee, which you can buy at a gas station or in roadside cafes. And yet, remember that it will be impossible to completely solve problems with drowsiness with energy drinks or a glass of coffee. If you are dead tired and can’t think about anything except how to fall asleep as quickly as possible, then no matter how many energy drinks or cups of coffee you drink, it will still be impossible to get rid of drowsiness.
Available after 18? - drivers must
The main rule is not to overeat, because after dense saturation comes drowsiness.
On a long trip, be sure to throw a pack of nuts, seeds or sweets with bright flavors into the car. Seeds are especially held in high esteem, because the driver not only chews them and is distracted, but also does an additional task - cleans them.
The driver is always involuntarily distracted by the clicking of the ear, which is why he does not lose visual contact with the road, but the sounds around him cease to be monotonous.
It is not recommended to take chips, crackers and other chemical treats with you . When consuming them, the driver will first be distracted by the bright taste, and then by a stomach ache.
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Add oxygen
The first sign that your brain is ready to shut down for sleep is obsessive yawning. Interestingly, yawning is not a characteristic sign of fatigue, but may simply be an indicator of a lack of oxygen. This often happens in climate-controlled cars: you start breathing in the air you exhale. The body demands more oxygen, and an irresistible desire to yawn appears. At the moment of yawning, concentration of attention is lost for a split second, which can lead to an emergency. To prevent this from happening, simply open the window slightly.
There is safety in numbers
According to statistics, it is lone drivers who most often get into accidents. Place your navigators and toastmaster with a button accordion next to you in the form of a friend. An active conversation is the best way to relieve sleep, because the subcortex of the brain is activated.
If the person in the passenger seat begins to fall asleep, move him back, because the sight of him sleeping will awaken you to sleep even more.
By the way, a great option is to seat your passenger in the back immediately and ask him to follow your eyes. From the outside it will be better to see when you begin to get tired and slowly fall asleep. The passenger will be able to pull him up in time and remind him of the rest.
Nappuccino
Nappuccino is an interesting drink. It can be made from any coffee, using any recipe, but be sure to add one ingredient - a light nap. The recipe is as follows:
1. Make coffee or pour a glass of cola or energy drink.
2. Drink it.
3. Go to bed for 20 minutes.
4. You wake up cheerful and rested.
Nappuccino shows incredible results. Those people who have tried this method of consuming caffeine have shown that it is much more effective than simply increasing the dose of the drink. Why does this happen?
It's all about the mechanism of action of caffeine. It replaces adenosine receptors, preventing them from taking over substances that cause drowsiness and fatigue. In addition, sleep eliminates adenosine from the body. As a result, after the effects of caffeine you will not feel helpless, the rebound will be minimized. Moreover, to become cheerful, just a cup of coffee is enough. Try it, it's a very effective method. But it won’t work for everyone due to the fact that caffeine acts individually. So experiment at home, not in the car.
Electronic accident prevention systems
Some modern cars are equipped with electronics that monitor driving habits. Such systems compare sensor readings, monitor the driver’s facial expressions and eye movements, promptly warning the motorist about the danger of falling asleep.
People who have previously fallen asleep while driving often resort to using electronic systems. Accidents can also be prevented by using a so-called fatigue alarm as an alternative. Externally, the devices of this plan are similar to a regular headset. There is a built-in gyroscope that tracks the position of the driver's head. If the driver begins to nod off, a vibration or sharp sound is heard.
Tip 2: drink
Very often, in order to cheer up, people take various energy drinks on the road. Indeed, the caffeine they contain can prevent a person from sleeping for a while. But its effect will not last more than 1-2 hours, and drinking more than one can per day is simply dangerous to health. In addition, they will not have any effect on a very tired person. If a driver falls asleep at the wheel and has driven for more than 6 hours, caffeine will have a rather unique effect on the nervous system - the person will simply be overexcited, and this will further reduce concentration and reaction speed. Therefore, on the road it is not recommended to drink not only energy drinks, but also tea and coffee.
The following drinks are suitable for drivers:
- Mineral water.
- Plain water with ice and lemon slices.
- Juices. Citrus fruits are especially good at invigorating - grapefruit, orange and others.
- Decoctions of ginseng, rose hips, eleutherococcus, echinacea. Naturally, we are not talking about tinctures containing alcohol - even a small amount of alcohol is dangerous for the driver.
Deza "fell"
But the “duck” has already flown in all directions, acquiring “feathers” along the way. The quote about the inability of producers was repeated by regional media. One of the Irkutsk portals the other day (importantly, the other day) wrote: traffic inspectors in the Angara region do not fine for the absence of tachographs on board cars, since they have entered into the position of drivers: “In the Irkutsk region today there is no organization that would provide services for installing devices.” Following this are the words of State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Lysakov: “The Ministry of Transport has not yet approved the regulations for the installation of equipment.”
The quote is “advanced” in time, therefore it is not true. Lysakov said this when there was still snow in Irkutsk, and since then, when streams began to flow in the city, regulations for the installation of devices have been posted on the Rosavtotrans website. As for the long-suffering Angara region, as our editors found out, in Irkutsk there are four “tachograph” organizations certified by Rosavtotrans.
Light snack
If you feel like you are falling asleep, you can overcome drowsiness with a light snack. Your body and brain will reconfigure from the desire to sleep to the consumption of food. A person will concentrate on eating a hamburger or a simple sandwich, which will allow him to gain 20-30 minutes from sleep, and at the same time he can safely drive a car.
However, you should not eat to your heart's content in cases where you need to drive. The fact is that as soon as we eat heavily, the blood invariably adheres to the stomach, and our brain sends involuntary signals to sleep, when food is best digested. Therefore, if we eat to our heart’s content, then literally within 10-15 minutes we will experience the first symptoms of drowsiness, and soon it will be impossible to overcome the desire to sleep.
