How to stay awake at the wheel is something every driver should think about. Falling asleep while driving can be disastrous for anyone involved. A drowsy driver is a hazard on the road. Stay alert devices are the most effective and proven ways to stay awake under many circumstances. Studies show that certain groups are more at risk for drowsy driving than others. The under 20 age group has more sleep related car accidents because of their irregular sleep patterns. Please who work double shifts or the night shift are prone to driver fatigue. People are commuting further today and that puts them at risk as well. Those that travel long distances are often negatively affected by long monotonous roads that dim their eyes and dull their mind. Certain jobs put you at greater risk for driver fatigue although anyone can succumb to it. If you have any of the following jobs you may constantly be struggling with how to keep yourself awake while driving:
It can be difficult for people to remain at work without falling asleep. Many night time phone operators use our product to stay awake while at work. Security personal and machine operators must keep themselves alert and focused at all times to prevent catastrophes and also to avoid falling asleep on the job and hence loosing their job. In our current financial crisis keeping your job is the most important thing you should be focusing on. The Alert Master drowsy driver alert helps accomplish just that. Getting to and from work safely is equally important and a driver nap alarm should be used if you regularly find that you ask yourself how to stay awake behind the wheel.
Even though the Stay Awake Device can help to alert you when you are starting to doze off either while driving or during other important situations, you should still employ some tips to stay awake if you are feeling tired, especially while driving. Drowsy driving can lead to a disaster so you need all the help you can to prevent such a situation from occurring.
Tip #1: Pull over at the nearest convenience store and get a cup of coffee.
This may seem obvious to some but it's a good tip for several reasons. Of course coffee has caffeine which does a great job of waking you up. However, stopping to get your cup of java also allows you to stretch your legs, get a little bit of exercise and get your blood circulating. All of these things will give you an energy boost. What some people don't know is that caffeine can take up to 30 minutes to be effective so get your cup of coffee and walk around for a while. The combination of the two will do wonders for keeping you up when you get back in the car.
Some people find that a hot drink, even if it is coffee, can actually make them feel sleepy if they are extremely tired. If this is the case for you then you could either try drinking a cold drink with caffeine like Coke or better yet, take a power nap in your car of 15-20 minutes and then go back into the store and get that cup of coffee to perk you up. The nap together with the caffeine is a powerful combination that can give you a new found burst of wakefulness to keep driving.
Tip #2 : Take a power nap
As just mentioned, a power nap is a nap of 15-20 minutes. A power nap is said to be the best type of rest in the middle of the day to reinvigorate you without leaving you groggy. This is because if you sleep too long your body will enter the type of normal sleep cycle that it does at night time. If you then wake up from this normal sleep cycle in the middle without completing it you may feel even more tired then you did before. The name of this phenomenon is sleep inertia. So it is best to take a short nap, just enough to feel rested. It doesn't matter if you don't fall asleep, you will still gain benefit from this rest period. If you then drink a caffeinated beverage when you get up you will maximize the effects of the nap even more.
Tip #3: Take a snif of an essential oil
This may seem a little strange but strong smells can wake you up. Why else are smelling salts sometimes placed under the nose of someone who has fainted? Aromatherapy claims that certain essential oils such as those derived from rosemary, peppermint and eucalyptus blue gum do a good job of reducing fatigue and invigorating a person. Take a trip to a health food store and stif around for the smell that does the best job perking you up. It may not be the smell that you like the most. In fact a strong, sharp smell is more likely to invigorate then a sweet, flowery scent. Keep a small bottle of the oil of your choice in your care and use your sense of smell to keep yourself alert.
Tip #4: Don't drive after eating a big meal
It's not a good idea to drive after eating a big meal because a full stomach tends to make you drowsy since your body is working hard to digest the large quantity of food you just ate. Eating a large amount can quickly spike your blood sugar levels and as they come down equally fast you tend to get tired. Think of all the men asleep on the sofa after a big Thanksgiving meal. This is a scenario you want to avoid when driving a car. Don't go hungry either though. It's important to keep your blood sugar level stable so keep healthy snacks in the car like nuts and seeds or fresh fruit. Water is a terrific pick-me-upper too. Drinking cold water can help you feel refreshed and it also keeps you stay hydrated which is equally important. Chewing gum is also known to help keep you awake. The constant chewing together with the mint taste gives you something to do which makes it difficult to doze off.
Tip #5: Keep your distance from the car ahead of you
If it is a ways to the next rest stop or you otherwise have no chance to pull over and try some of the other tips above make sure to stay at least 3 car lengths from the car ahead. This will give you a little room for error in case you do have a lapse of awareness due to being overly tired. In addition, keep your windows down if if is cool outside. The cold air will keep you awake. If it's hot outside then crank the air conditioning in the car as the cold temperature will have the same effect. The worst environment to be in when sleepy is a warm environment so make sure that the temperature is cool to cold.
Being tired at the wheel is an under rated cause of vehicular accidents. Studies conducted by sleep research teams shows that a person who has stayed awake an entire day performs the same behind the wheel as a drunk driver with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .1g. This makes them many more times likely to be involved in an accident then an alert person. In the United States the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board has done several studies showing the correlation between sleepiness and accidents especially where heavy trucks are involved. Of long haul truck drivers involved in road accidents, just about 50% are related to fatigue. Other studies have shown that 17% of all accidents each year (around a million) are related to fatigue and 50% of accidents on busy roads were caused by drowsy drivers.
Seeing these statistics really drives the point home. Driving while tired is an alarmingly prevalent reason for the many road wrecks we see each year. It is therefore incumbent on every single driver whether they drive short or long distances to do their utmost to stay alert while driving and prevent an accident. Use the tips above and get a Stay Awake device as extra insurance.
