Does driving make you tired?

[seboni121]

Old thread but worth adding to.

I am embarking on my yearly 1000 miles trip to Europe tomorrow. We drive through the night. I do it in one go over 15-18 hours depending on the weather, traffic and any roadworks. Stops for fuel and toilets.

In the car with me is SWMBO and 2 kiddos. That's why we drive through the night as otherwise it would be impossible with two young kids.

I developed a special technique to enable me to tackle so many hours behind the wheel. Two day prior to departure (5.30pm) I shift my bio clock for night activity. This means sleeping as late as possible (day off work needed) and going to bed very late, 2-3am. I also make sure I sleep min 8 hours for a week beforehand.

This way I can drive for 18 hours through the night. In case I have a crisis wife takes over for two hours while I sleep in the passenger seat.

One thing I noticed over the years is that there is no point in fighting when tiredness sets in. Better to acknowledge it, make a change and sleep for few hours instead of acting tough.

Resurrected this post as pm doesn't work for this member ? Has anyone heard from him ? He has been very quiet and not posted just thought I'd ask

[Ootohere]

Last i heard, he got home OK from his European road trip and is busy with work and things.

george

[seboni121]

Last i heard, he got home OK from his European road trip and is busy with work and things.

george

Ah good after trip not heard anything so thought I'd ask thanx George I've pm u m8

[TriggerFish]

I've not read all of this yet, so hoping it's not gone too off topic!

I spent about 10-11 hours driving across the EU in the summer (got massively lost in Switzerland!) but felt awake and alert for all for it. Most of the day was spent in the Alps (and the Stelvio pass in the morning, so interesting types of road). We had a couple of breaks to get food out of the back of the car and have a drink and try and work out where we were (the satnav insisted we took a ferry crossing, and that there was no other route to Zurich from Italy), but otherwise it was solid driving. Never been so glad to see a camp site and eat some mediocre pasta though!

Yet other times I can find myself feeling a bit drowsy on the way home from uni which is only 30-40 minutes. Quite often I'll have only been awake around 7 hours by that point too.

I think it's as said down to stimulation - a boring A road at night and I sometimes struggle, an awesome mounting pass and I'm fine.

I saw mention of CC - personally I find it makes no difference as I keep my foot covering the throttle anyway (so I can find the brake easily in an emergency) and still pay as much attention, it means I can be consistent and hopefully less annoying to other road users as a result.

Also found in my current car you can alter the temp of air from the top vents separately to the rest of the car (kinda like a horizontal dual zone) which can be quite useful for keeping awake due to the quick change between hot and cold air without making the car uncomfy overall.

I managed a drive from Birmingham to Aylesbury a couple of weeks ago after a weekend out with some friends and about 3 - 4 hours sleep (which is pretty common for me anyway - I don't seem to need much sleep and can function fine with 2-3 hours sleep over a two day period) and didn't have any issues. While it was a boring motorway trek having others in the car to talk too made it a lot easier. All ties back to stimulation again.

I'm sure I'll get worse as I get older though!

Edited 3 March, 2013 by TriggerFish

[stever750]

I've rarely had this problem unless I've set out at 3 or 4 am to catch an early flight from say heathrow. I've driven to Glasgow and back in a day from Cardiff and was Ok, more physically fatigued from sitting in the same position for prolonged periods. Used to revulsion drive for 3-4 hrs at a time across Germany / Europe. Autobahn speed keeps the adrenalin levels high so sleepiness was never an issue.

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[Jabozuma]

Hello guys, back after a long sabbatical from the forums.

My trip was 960 miles one way in one go, stops for toilet and fuel only and driving from 7pm from UK till 9am at the destination motorways only.

My biggest problem was empty motorways i.e. deadly boredom. I did have to change with my wife for 1.5hrs I must admit :(. Weather was crap as well - rain and snow all the way, lots of cars in ditches etc.

On my way back it was worse as I had to drive 400 miles in the morning before we set off for the trip back to UK in the evening so I was properly knackered and my better part had to drive for 2.5hrs. Surprisingly it turned out she has the heavier foot looking at fuel consumption!

[2SkodaFamily]

I find the best remedy for feeling tired is singing. I'm sure that this is because of the mental stimulation, and the big breaths required if you're doing it properly!

[Kyle_vrs]

I don't think you do build up a endurance. During the week I can be working anywhere in the uk and on average my closest jobs are 1 1/2hr away to upto 4-41/2 hours away then have a full day's work and then drive home and repeat that all week. Then at weekends I minibus, some weekends I've got in the bus on a Friday night and not really stopped until Sunday. I've driven to Brighton (4hrs) picked up and come back with no stops as no one wanted to stop and like someone said its not very good if you want to stop and the passengers don't. I always get tired when driving but for me keeping plenty of red bull helps, if I'm ok then great but should I feel tired having one of them helps no end. If I know I'm bussing I take 2 or 3 out with me as I can just crack one open on the move. If it's for my work I can just pull off if I've not got one on me

[mac11irl]

as long my brain knows im moving, it wont let me sleep... The idea of going to sleep and waking up somewhere else just does not compute. Maybe its some left over primeval survival instinct i dunno. But, train, plane, boat, car, bus, doesnt matter, if im moving im awake... To keep an eye on where i am..

[BO60BYS]

as long my brain knows im moving, it wont let me sleep... The idea of going to sleep and waking up somewhere else just does not compute. Maybe its some left over primeval survival instinct i dunno. But, train, plane, boat, car, bus, doesnt matter, if im moving im awake... To keep an eye on where i am..

i sleep on anything I'm not in controll of best is falling asleep on a plane and waking up in a different country no popped ears no boredom and screaming kids and pluss your refreshed ! 

[mac11irl]

you see, i know a few lads like that, but they are the same people who have admitted to nodding off while driving... 

 

id rather my way of travelling!!

[Jabozuma]

Kyle, I found that I do build it up, like storing it if I do my routine. Done it both ways and I know it is working perfectly fine:) .

[Sparkly]

as long my brain knows im moving, it wont let me sleep... The idea of going to sleep and waking up somewhere else just does not compute. Maybe its some left over primeval survival instinct i dunno. But, train, plane, boat, car, bus, doesnt matter, if im moving im awake... To keep an eye on where i am..

 

In my line of work sleeping on planes is a matter of survival, no different to staying awake when driving a car.

 

Just like distance driving, it's something that comes with practice, I used to never be able to get a wink on a plane, no if the sleep is needed, I tend to drop off mid take off, best time to go out ime.

 

Driving distances for me is a stamina thing, something you build up a tolerance to, for me a lot of it is psychological, I feel like my brain sets itself to long distance mode when I know I am doing the Yorkshire to Cornwall commute.  My first jobs as a lowly travelling sales rep taught me lots about in car survival do's and don'ts.

[Toxicvrs]

Yes it does make me tired to a point but I wouldn't fall asleep but just become dopey, I'm driving most of the day.

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Done 9 hours driving between Oxford and Aylesbury yesterday Then another 30 min at the start and finnish on the bike to get there and back. It's strange though, because I felt less tired after all that than I did after a 3 hour round trip in the car recently. 

[BJM]

9 hours to do 25 miles ????

That was one hell of a traffic jam, no wonder you were knackered.

Still at least you weren't stuck behind a bus.

[OctaviaJo]

OK, so this is a 2014 thread, but having just done a long trip single Driver to Austria and back and being a veteran of 4 hour + drives in the UK I've found some tips that might still be useful.

 

1.  I have no other vices, but I do tend to run on coffee.  I have a small, but very strong coffee about 10 mins before setting off esp. if it is going to be a night drive.  I keep pro-plus in the car, but don't like to use them - I've only ever resorted to them in the event of hours of delay and no-where on the road to stop and refresh and then you need some idea of when to take a dose (Satnav is good for the likely time remaining) as they take a while to kick in.  I take coffee and a straw with me if I have a passenger and if there is an opportunity and some slow moving traffic I will get the passenger to feed me coffee about 2 hours into a journey. 

2.  I have the satnav voice on loud and chat back to her

3.  I have a variety of music (mainly soft rock) on shuffle and deliberately sing aloud to it - maybe the OP should have used something other than Cliff Richard!  I also have stuff on it that I don't like listening to so it makes me skip them - again something else to do.

4.  I have boiled sweets in the car - I find the stimulation of an additional set of senses when you feel tiredness creeping in really helps

5.  I lower the car temperature and even open the window if I know I'm entering dodgy territory and haven't been able to stop, I also try sitting up straighter - being too comfortable makes me tired

6.  I try not to do more than 4 hours without a break - note many of the above scenarios usually only play out if I can't do this for reasons to do with motorway delays

7.  Here's an odd one, if I think tiredness could start to become and issue I take the car off of cruise control and start to drive it 'actively' with my feet - doing more seems to counteract tiredness

8.  If the drive is routine motorway I play word games with the kids and we do crosswords - they fill in and give me the clues, we also go Eddie Stobbart lorry spotting and they compile a list of names

 

Basically I find the key to staying alert and coping is to make sure you are doing enough to not fall asleep and don't get too comfortable - I find the more senses I stimulate the better I can concentrate.  The worst case is comfortable, warmth and nothing, but the repetitive drone of the motorway drive, to concentrate on.   In an ideal situation I stop every 4 hours, but when you can't I find somewhere to do that a game plan, a little preparation and idea of what works for me goes a long way. 

[Brian69]

I drove from Glasgow to Applecross and back in the same day - I was totally gubbed - so much so that I nudged into the back of an Astra at a roundabout (it had moved forwards then stopped suddenly) between Luss and Balloch on the way home - I cursed under my breath, but then the Astra just accelerated away (much to my surprise!) - no damage to my car (the protruding number plate housing on the MKI Fabia vRS probably helped).

Edited 8 March, 2016 by Brian69

[thomasbham]

When I drive to Poland it is just over 1000 miles one way.

Normally I leave UK (Birmingham ) late afternoon to avoid all traffic by London and Benelux. I am getting tired about 1-2 am and it is normally west of Germany. So we stop for 2 hours. We have short walk for few minutes on fresh air, after that we have a good an hour nap and the finally little exercise outside again and cup of coffee and go...

It is helpful that in Germany you can drive a bit faster so normally I set speed on 110mph and it keeps you focused .

Edited 8 March, 2016 by thomasbham

[KenONeill]

I drove from Glasgow to Applecross and back in the same day - I was totally gubbed - so much so that I nudged into the back of an Astra at a roundabout (it had moved forwards then stopped suddenly) between Luss and Balloch on the way home - I cursed under my breath, but then the Astra just accelerated away (much to my surprise!) - no damage to my car (the protruding number plate housing on the MKI Fabia vRS probably helped).

That's a particularly "nasty" roundabout for that, because the sight line for traffic joining or crossing the A82 is so brilliant than no-one actually expects the kitten in front of them to stop unless there's someone who's come over the Black Hill joining the A82 South.

[Doofy]

I had to do a delivery to the Mini car factory in Cowley Oxford a few years back. Drove down, no problems, got tipped and turned for home, it was about 3am by this time, Got to some dark part of the motorway north of Leeds and saw this bloke up ahead walking his black dog on the side of the motorway, Got to the point where he was and there was nowt there. Scared me sh*tless, It was because i was tired   :coffee: ... Came back from Blackpool and experienced it on the A66, Very scary, I now call it black dog because every time it happens i see a black dog and i know it's time to stop.. :zzz: