Drowsy driving and the warning signs

Some signs of drowsy driving show up in how you feel, and others in how you drive. Once you notice them, the only fix is to stop and rest or hand the wheel to someone else.

The signs in the driver

• It's hard to focus on the road.
• You blink often, or your eyelids feel heavy.
• You keep yawning or rubbing your eyes.
• It's hard to keep your head up, or you nod off.
• Your mind wanders and your thoughts drift.
• You feel restless and irritable, and small annoyances like traffic set you off.

The signs on the road

• You can't remember the last few miles.
• You miss an exit or a traffic sign.
• You drift out of your lane or cross the lines.
• You follow the car ahead too closely.
• Your tires hit the rumble strip on the shoulder.

What raises the risk

Less than six hours of sleep triples your risk of falling asleep at the wheel. A packed work schedule, such as more than 60 hours a week, raises the risk of drowsy driving by about 40 percent, and so does a second job on top of shift work. Driving overnight, in the mid-afternoon or when you'd normally be asleep adds to it. So do long drives without rest breaks, even a small amount of alcohol, and medicines that can make you sleepy, such as cold tablets, antihistamines and antidepressants.

What helps

Plan a long trip ahead of time, with rest breaks along the way, and bring someone who can share the driving and switch with you when needed. Before you set off, and at each stop, ask yourself whether you're alert enough to handle a 3,000-pound car at highway speed.

When the signs show up, pull over somewhere safe. Take a 15 to 20 minute nap, get out and stretch, or switch drivers, and keep going only once you feel alert and refreshed.

An annotated example

What to do next

Before a long drive, line up a second driver if you can and find the rest stops on the route. For the car's side of a long trip, see How to prepare your car for a road trip.