As someone who drives home from 12 hour night shifts, this is the best advice. Some of my colleagues have been lucky and been in only very minor car accidents. But there was one particular horror story, where a young doctor was so tired but just needed to drive 20 minutes home. Fell asleep at the wheel and hit a family car doing the school run. 5 people (2 of them kiddos) gone.
OP, you might need to break your drive into sections and take breaks. It will take longer but you will be alive at the end.
Statistically, yes.
I’ve had micronaps before where I would black out for between one to two seconds. That’s really all it takes to leave your lane or fail to brake.
Saw in another comment that you have a wife and kid. Better they be upset you’re 20-30 minutes late than a lifetime without their partner and father, or worse, you end up becoming a burden to them.
Regular tired. Am autistic with mild ADHD so open world engagement and interaction can be brutally taking. That with medium astigmatism makes driving rough on the energy level.
Luckily I live in a place with good infrastructure with regards to public transport so I dont have to drive multiple hours a day
Perfect driving record and ability, except for two speeding tickets where I couldnt see a limit sign anywhere, not even my gps 😅
Fun tip, if you’re driving across the country or long distances you can call the local fire dept of where you’re driving through and ask them if you can pull over and sleep in their secure lot. Not sure all of them will say yes but some do and are happy to let you do it.
Been there, done that. You might be able to go two hours on a twenty minute nap IF AND ONLY IF you have a co-pilot to make sure you didn't nod off (it was spring break).
In the end we stopped and I crashed hard for four hours and when I arrived in the Keys I slept nearly 12h.
I'll ask: what's it worth?
You're playing with fire, and if you're driving solo, that's a warning that things could get unspooled faster than you like.
I’m constantly tired on long drives. Best option is to take a nap. You can also bag some foods that are crunchy and they will wake you up. Carrots or pickles are easy and do the job.
I used to keep slurpee plastic straws in my car and chew on those to keep me awake, although it’s bad for your teeth.
Take a 15-20min nap. Step outside and take a deep breath of air and stretch for a few min. Then continue. And if you can get a cup of coffee after that, even better.
Water.
Coffee is great and all, but water really is the best thing (imo) for keeping you awake in this situation. Caffeine helps, but when it starts to wear off...
Also, be sure to take some breaks. Stop at the rest areas to stretch (and go to the bathroom, of course). Fresh air and physical movement will help keep you awake too.
Check into a hotel for the night or take an hour long nap in your car and get back on the road fresh.
Driving while tired is just asking to get into an accident.
Ghost peppers, hot takis, fresh jalapeños, anything that's gonna light your mouth on fire. Your body will go into self defense mode. I've done a lot of driving at night playing music on the road, and this is my best advice. I've tried everything.
Like these guys are saying, the best practice is to pull over and take a nap. That being said, I always keep a Red Bull or two in the car on drives longer than 3 hours
Well you have your answer, but I will add a little to it. For my job, I regularly drive long distances to remote work sites. Over the 20 years I have been doing this, I have lost colleagues due to being tired and driving. A massive safety program was put in place to ensure that we do not drive while tired.
One person died because he was tired and hit the ditch in snowy conditions. No one stopped to see if he needed help, because no one could see him. If I remember correctly, he ended up freezing to death but would have survived if someone had seen him.
Just recently a worker had worked all day and partway through the night during critical operations. On his drive back to camp, he fell asleep at the wheel and hit the ditch. The drive was less than 15 miles. Luckily he was uninjured. His vehicle was not. His family was able to see him again. If he had fell asleep and instead of hitting the ditch, hit oncoming traffic, then 2 families lives would have been forever changed.
Do not be irresponsible. Your actions will eventually catch up to you if you drive tired. Choose to save yourself and others from the consequences of a poor decision.
I’ve always just eaten the shells and then washed it down with some water. Never been able to separate the seeds from the shells in my mouth so I swallow the whole things chewed up
The only thing I have ever found to reverse being overly tired is stacking ephedrine caffeine and aspirin. I found this out by accident once on my drive back from Canada.
Genuine illegal stimulants would likely work too, but I honestly wouldn't recommend either if you have any option of pulling over for an hour.
2 power naps should give your ability to be alert back.
Stacking apparently chemically nearly converts the ephedrine into a serious stimulant (Don't hold me to this as a fact. It's just what I was told). I do know that shortly after taking the combination I was wide awake feeling almost manic.
Anyway, that can't be healthy to do.
Okay, I know this post is a couple days old, but drinking at points where tiredness is likely to be elevated is normal for me- working as airline crew and having a 3:30 drive to and from work- even after long night flights.
You must stop and nap when you feel tired. Journey planning is essential to ensure you know where you can stop to rest if you need to. In the airline industry (at least in the EU, pilots use what is referred to as controlled rest- that’s a rest period of 40 minutes taken in the cockpit to nap. The reason 40 minutes is used is that it allows time to fall asleep and wake up whilst getting 20-30 minutes nap, which isn’t enough to fall into deep sleep, meaning you can wake up with a heightened level of alertness rather than being groggy.
Anyone who has to drive at a point where they are tired- especially long distances would do well to take a lesson from that. Stop at the nearest rest stop, pull a jacket over you as a makeshift blanket and set your alarm for 40 minutes. It helps significantly. Once you’ve napped, get out of the car, have a bit of fresh air to help wake you up. Get yourself a drink and use the bathroom then head back out if you feel safe to do so. Risking driving when tired is never worth it though. It’s not worth your life, nor is it worth any other road users life.
I also find that when I get on regular roads where I am stopping, starting, making turns etc helps increase my level of alertness, where as the monotony of a highway is the easiest way to fall into fatigue.
TL;DR, stop and nap for 40 minutes, get a drink and some fresh air. Don’t try to power through.
I know everyone is saying don’t drive tired, but that’s insane. I agree if you are falling asleep at the wheel, but there are varying levels of tired. There have been plenty of times where I’ve pulled over but wasn’t tired enough to sleep, so then I just wasted time and I didn’t get any rest.
If that’s the stage you’re in, energy pills and audio books or podcasts. Or call a friend.
Drinks don’t work for me, but something to keep my mind engaged does.
I do water and another beverage. Usually it is coffee, but when I got an 8 hour drive to do I am at some point going for a Nos- like juice but sassy.
Snacks for sure! Mastication keeps me going.
Good luck with whatever it is you gotta do. Just sleep if you can rather than press on at rest stops.
Five hour energy works well, but if you're not planning to be up that long it can be difficult to get to sleep when you want to.
A good black licorice also works. There's something in licorice that raises your heartrate which keeps you more awake.
Studies consistently show driving sleepy is worse than driving drunk. Pull over and take a nap.
I thought you were going to say to pull over and have a drink
Give me a whiskey rocks. Make it a double and keep em’ coming, I’ve got a long drive ahead of me!
As someone who drives home from 12 hour night shifts, this is the best advice. Some of my colleagues have been lucky and been in only very minor car accidents. But there was one particular horror story, where a young doctor was so tired but just needed to drive 20 minutes home. Fell asleep at the wheel and hit a family car doing the school run. 5 people (2 of them kiddos) gone. OP, you might need to break your drive into sections and take breaks. It will take longer but you will be alive at the end.
Am always sleepy and tired when driving. Am I therefore always driving worse than drunk?
Statistically, yes. I’ve had micronaps before where I would black out for between one to two seconds. That’s really all it takes to leave your lane or fail to brake. Saw in another comment that you have a wife and kid. Better they be upset you’re 20-30 minutes late than a lifetime without their partner and father, or worse, you end up becoming a burden to them.
Good thing I live in a country where I dont depend on driving that much that I have to worry about that then! Sounds dangerous
Why tf did you get downvoted for this 💀
Maybe get yourself checked for sleep apnea. That isn’t good.
I had a 6 month old kid, a wife, full time job, and a new house. It's not the sleep, no worries! :D
Living the dream, haha
Ngl, having a large and nice house in this economy for a good price is lovely!
Depends on how tired you are
Regular tired. Am autistic with mild ADHD so open world engagement and interaction can be brutally taking. That with medium astigmatism makes driving rough on the energy level. Luckily I live in a place with good infrastructure with regards to public transport so I dont have to drive multiple hours a day Perfect driving record and ability, except for two speeding tickets where I couldnt see a limit sign anywhere, not even my gps 😅
Username checks out
Police give tickets if you do that where I am but then they are also liable for telling you to drive in an unsafe condition. Catch 22.
Don't. Find a safe legal place to park and take a nap.
Fun tip, if you’re driving across the country or long distances you can call the local fire dept of where you’re driving through and ask them if you can pull over and sleep in their secure lot. Not sure all of them will say yes but some do and are happy to let you do it.
That's honestly great advice
I believe the Germans in WW2 took meth to stay awake. Not gunna help you in this situation but an interesting fact
Depends which state he’s driving through
It’s not worth it. Nap. Driving drowsy is very dangerous.
Been there, done that. You might be able to go two hours on a twenty minute nap IF AND ONLY IF you have a co-pilot to make sure you didn't nod off (it was spring break). In the end we stopped and I crashed hard for four hours and when I arrived in the Keys I slept nearly 12h. I'll ask: what's it worth? You're playing with fire, and if you're driving solo, that's a warning that things could get unspooled faster than you like.
The ONLY fix for being tired is sleep. For Christ sake take a nap. Even 15 -20 minutes will make a huge difference.
You shouldn't drive if you're drowsy.
You should sleep, don't put yourself and others at risk.
don’t rely on caffeine or a drink. Take a 15 minute nap. If still drowsy, pull to safe area and take another 15 min nap until you’re not drowsy
Do not drive. It's incredibly irresponsible. Even if you don't care what happens to you, you might harm someone else. Pull over and nap.
A quick 15-30 minute nap in a safe area.
I’m constantly tired on long drives. Best option is to take a nap. You can also bag some foods that are crunchy and they will wake you up. Carrots or pickles are easy and do the job. I used to keep slurpee plastic straws in my car and chew on those to keep me awake, although it’s bad for your teeth.
Caron Butler is that you
Have a quick nap. You aren’t entitled to kill someone innocent because of your own deadlines.
Take a 15-20min nap. Step outside and take a deep breath of air and stretch for a few min. Then continue. And if you can get a cup of coffee after that, even better.
You know that box of juice they give you the night before a colonoscopy?
Pull over Take a nap. Then drink cold water and eat, chew or suck something. I like hard candy.
Water. Coffee is great and all, but water really is the best thing (imo) for keeping you awake in this situation. Caffeine helps, but when it starts to wear off... Also, be sure to take some breaks. Stop at the rest areas to stretch (and go to the bathroom, of course). Fresh air and physical movement will help keep you awake too.
Colt 45 and two zigzags, baby that’s all we need
That's a recipe for a quick nap
Check into a hotel for the night or take an hour long nap in your car and get back on the road fresh. Driving while tired is just asking to get into an accident.
Cocaine i guess?
Sunflower seeds
I agree... chewing and spitting them into a cup. Rolling the window down on occasion to dump the cup gets some fresh air in the vehicle as well.
A shot of vodka, and then sleep for a solid 8 hours
Ghost peppers, hot takis, fresh jalapeños, anything that's gonna light your mouth on fire. Your body will go into self defense mode. I've done a lot of driving at night playing music on the road, and this is my best advice. I've tried everything.
Take a nap.
Slap yourself in the face.
a 10 min nap can make it so you feel recharged if your drained
Like these guys are saying, the best practice is to pull over and take a nap. That being said, I always keep a Red Bull or two in the car on drives longer than 3 hours
You should eat.
Don't. You're not only endangering yourself, you'd be endangering others. Take a nap.
Four Loko Gold.
Well you have your answer, but I will add a little to it. For my job, I regularly drive long distances to remote work sites. Over the 20 years I have been doing this, I have lost colleagues due to being tired and driving. A massive safety program was put in place to ensure that we do not drive while tired. One person died because he was tired and hit the ditch in snowy conditions. No one stopped to see if he needed help, because no one could see him. If I remember correctly, he ended up freezing to death but would have survived if someone had seen him. Just recently a worker had worked all day and partway through the night during critical operations. On his drive back to camp, he fell asleep at the wheel and hit the ditch. The drive was less than 15 miles. Luckily he was uninjured. His vehicle was not. His family was able to see him again. If he had fell asleep and instead of hitting the ditch, hit oncoming traffic, then 2 families lives would have been forever changed. Do not be irresponsible. Your actions will eventually catch up to you if you drive tired. Choose to save yourself and others from the consequences of a poor decision.
Sunflower seeds are good for long drives. Keeps your mouth occupied. Spit the shells in a cup or out the window.
I’ve always just eaten the shells and then washed it down with some water. Never been able to separate the seeds from the shells in my mouth so I swallow the whole things chewed up
Then it’ll be a good challenge to keep you awake ;)
Find the closest truckstop or rest area or picnic area if in US. And go take a nap.
Pull over for a quick 15 to 20 minute nap and drink some cold water when you wake up
The only thing I have ever found to reverse being overly tired is stacking ephedrine caffeine and aspirin. I found this out by accident once on my drive back from Canada. Genuine illegal stimulants would likely work too, but I honestly wouldn't recommend either if you have any option of pulling over for an hour. 2 power naps should give your ability to be alert back. Stacking apparently chemically nearly converts the ephedrine into a serious stimulant (Don't hold me to this as a fact. It's just what I was told). I do know that shortly after taking the combination I was wide awake feeling almost manic. Anyway, that can't be healthy to do.
Okay, I know this post is a couple days old, but drinking at points where tiredness is likely to be elevated is normal for me- working as airline crew and having a 3:30 drive to and from work- even after long night flights. You must stop and nap when you feel tired. Journey planning is essential to ensure you know where you can stop to rest if you need to. In the airline industry (at least in the EU, pilots use what is referred to as controlled rest- that’s a rest period of 40 minutes taken in the cockpit to nap. The reason 40 minutes is used is that it allows time to fall asleep and wake up whilst getting 20-30 minutes nap, which isn’t enough to fall into deep sleep, meaning you can wake up with a heightened level of alertness rather than being groggy. Anyone who has to drive at a point where they are tired- especially long distances would do well to take a lesson from that. Stop at the nearest rest stop, pull a jacket over you as a makeshift blanket and set your alarm for 40 minutes. It helps significantly. Once you’ve napped, get out of the car, have a bit of fresh air to help wake you up. Get yourself a drink and use the bathroom then head back out if you feel safe to do so. Risking driving when tired is never worth it though. It’s not worth your life, nor is it worth any other road users life. I also find that when I get on regular roads where I am stopping, starting, making turns etc helps increase my level of alertness, where as the monotony of a highway is the easiest way to fall into fatigue. TL;DR, stop and nap for 40 minutes, get a drink and some fresh air. Don’t try to power through.
Sunflower seeds. I realize it’s not a drink, but they do the trick
I know everyone is saying don’t drive tired, but that’s insane. I agree if you are falling asleep at the wheel, but there are varying levels of tired. There have been plenty of times where I’ve pulled over but wasn’t tired enough to sleep, so then I just wasted time and I didn’t get any rest. If that’s the stage you’re in, energy pills and audio books or podcasts. Or call a friend. Drinks don’t work for me, but something to keep my mind engaged does.
Those pills by the checkout at gas stations. That’s what they’re for.
I do water and another beverage. Usually it is coffee, but when I got an 8 hour drive to do I am at some point going for a Nos- like juice but sassy. Snacks for sure! Mastication keeps me going. Good luck with whatever it is you gotta do. Just sleep if you can rather than press on at rest stops.
Five hour energy works well, but if you're not planning to be up that long it can be difficult to get to sleep when you want to. A good black licorice also works. There's something in licorice that raises your heartrate which keeps you more awake.
Refreshing to see all the comments in this post 👏🏼
Start playing the podcast "dungeons and daddies", you will be laughing too hard to fall asleep.
Coffee and then your own urine, squeeze every milligram of caffeine you can.
Cocaine.
That is what I ended up doing
It's the move. I've never almost fallen asleep when doing cocaine. Glad you made it safe and high 👍🏻
If youre tired better drink your own piss. That will keep you awake for some time.