How Fatigue Affects Your Driving

Fatigue can affect drivers at any time of the day and it does not have to occur simply at night.  If you are tired you cannot concentrate and your reaction time becomes slower.  Fatigue is blamed for at least twenty percent of all motorway accidents.  More accidents occur between two and six in the morning, and two and four in the afternoon when the body is naturally wanting to rest.  You can be assured that if you are driving and beginning to get tired, you have the potential of falling asleep at the wheel.

If you begin to feel tired on a drive, find a safe place to pull over and park your automobile.  If you can, take a fifteen minute rest.  This will give you enough energy to make it to your destination safely.  If you do not have the time to take a quick rest, stop someplace where you can purchase a couple of cans of an energy drink.  The energy drink will help shake off the fatigue and give you about ninety minutes of usable energy once it has been absorbed into your body.

When you know you are going to be driving for an extended length of time, make sure you get enough sleep before leaving.  Try to avoid leaving in the evening after a full day of work, or in the morning when you have not had enough sleep.  Always make sure you stop at regular intervals for about ten minutes for every two hours of driving to ensure that you have a safe trip.

Published by admin on May 21st, 2008 in Driving Standards Agency, Road Safety