"Asleep" at the wheel

obi_waynne

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I spoke to someone the other day about sleep deprivation and the fact that people can be asleep whilst appearing to be awake.

A lot of people who fall asleep at the wheel would thereby suffer from a "waking sleep" where the brain shuts down into a sleep state whilst basic motor skills and eyelids remain open.

Typically a person who does this has no recollection of the events leading up to an accident!

It's fascinating stuff and serves as a warning not to drive when we are drowsy.

Have you ever suffered from sleeping at the wheel, or perhaps you got close and took a break?
 
yes, its damn scary stuff. Had worked for a day and a half solidly at 2 separate jobs and was on my way back home, to a well earned sleep, just sort of drifted off and when startled myself awake - was ok for position on the road but had the windows right down and turned the stereo up full - was only about 2 miles from the house. Any further and would have had to pull over. Wont be doing that again,
 
I think the other thing that is scary and similar in a way is when on 'auto-pilot'. How many of us have driven the same stretch of road on the way to/from work and have actually 'woken up' and thought I do not remember the last 5 miles? That scares me as I have done this many times, can't say I was asleep but thinking back I cannot say I was 100% focused. I never drive when tired, not worth it. On company trips abroad I never drive to/from the airport, I always book a taxi as a 2 hour drive home could be fatal after an 8-11 hour flight.
 
It does sound very scary, but unfortunately it's very true.
My the biggest problem is driving just ahead at all the time (motorways).
It happened to me twice when I was going to see mates in Germany.
I fell a sleep with open eyes and almost crashed at 100mph.
Then it happened again after 15-20min, my mate actually woke me up from that very strange state when my eyes were still open.

From that day, I stop as soon I get drowsy or very tired, nothing more important than a crash on a motorway or your life.
Its not as common on A or B roads, when constantly something is going on, turn after turn etc, it keeps you entertain ;) or when you driving fast, then some of my mates open even a window slightly every time they feel strange.
Tiredness CAN Kill - fact
 
Still, nothing like that urban myth where an alledged Winnebago owner stuck their RV in cruise control and left the drivers cab and wondered why it crashed! It apparently lead to a lawsuit due to the owners manual being ambiguous. Wish it were true.
 
I've got one for you.

I joined the Army at 17 and they are known for sleep deprivation as part of the basic training. Nothing too dangerous except a year or two later when it's still happening it gets a little old.

I used to, fairly constantly as a matter of fact, think I was asleep at the wheel. Thinking back on it, I probably shouldn't have been driving at all. I would fall asleep at a red light, I had to blast heavy metal on long trips, and here's the scary part(this happened a lot):

I would be driving along on the highway notice myself drowsy, try to wake up, and fall asleep. I felt the engine running, I felt the vibration of the car and the music, but I couldn't wake myself up...Then BAM!......

I'd wake up, sitting in my driveway or in a parking lot, engine running, music blasting, all in one piece. No crash, no damage. I had pulled in, stopped, and had fallen asleep before I could even kill the engine.

It happened a lot just after I bought my first car and thank goodness nothing worse came of it except some bad dreams.

I still have that dream sometimes. But nowadays when I wake up in a panic, I find myself in bed, next to my wife, and far away from my car or any highway. Strange thing about growing up, eh?

Thought I'd share that with you.
 
I do that exact thing Stamford.
Driving along and the all of a sudden realise I can't remember the last couple of miles driven. :blink:

Me too I'm afraid :embarrest: I tend to get called out at silly o'clock in the morning on some emergency call outs after I have been asleep for a number of hours, I always drink a can of redbull or similar before I set off though.
 
Me too I'm afraid :embarrest: I tend to get called out at silly o'clock in the morning on some emergency call outs after I have been asleep for a number of hours, I always drink a can of redbull or similar before I set off though.

I must say I have never drank that stuff as I am afraid I may like it! Plenty of coffee for me! :bigsmile:
 
I must say I have never drank that stuff as I am afraid I may like it! Plenty of coffee for me! :bigsmile:

Coffee for me on the start of a long journey is a no no! unless off course I know where all the loo's are located along the way! :lol:
 
You're getting old then T9! The older you are the shorter the distance you can get between toilet stops!
 
You could be right there young Waynne, best I go and hunt out a designer zimmer frame then! I wonder if Saab make one? :embarrest::bigsmile:
 

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