Driving When Tired

With January fast approaching, many of us will soon be returning to the routine of early mornings and getting used once again to the daily commute. However after the Christmas holidays, and following a succession of late nights and mornings, your body clock may well be out of sync with this ritual, and you are likely to find yourself feeling tired behind the wheel for some time afterwards as you learn to adjust again to this pattern.

Tiredness behind the wheel is estimated to be the cause of one in five motoring accidents – so don’t take the chance. If you know you have to be up early for work the following morning, plan ahead and try to have an early night for preparation. Try drinking a strong cup of coffee or tea shortly before you leave for the journey to work to keep you awake during your trip.

If you know you are going to be driving for more than a couple of hours, plan ahead to allow yourself extra time to take a break of at least fifteen minutes for every two hours you are driving. If you start to feel drowsy whilst on the road, pull over immediately into the first safe place you can find, such as a service station or suburban lay-by (not the hard shoulder of the motorway!) and drink a high-caffeine drink such as an energy drink or a strong coffee which should keep you awake for a short while longer.

It is worth remembering that caffeine drinks and other solutions such as turning up the radio or opening the window are only short-term fixes for tiredness, and the only real way to fix this is to have a good night’s sleep.

Safe driving from Britannia!

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