Drowsy driving serves as one of the biggest dangers of the modern road. It can affect any driver regardless of age, experience or occupation. However, many drivers believe that they know the right wakefulness tips and tricks to beat fatigue.
Just how well do these tricks actually work, though? Can a driver rely on them in a pinch? Or do they just provide a false sense of security that can actually lead to even more risk of accident and injury?
Dangers of drowsy driving
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration takes a look at the risks associated with drowsy driving. Naturally, drowsiness will severely reduce any driver’s ability to notice or react to danger. They suffer from slowed reflexes, shorter attention spans and the inability to process their surroundings well.
On top of that, many can fall asleep at the wheel when tired enough. Even if this only lasts for a few seconds, that serves as more than enough time for a driver to get into a dangerous or even deadly collision.
Do wakefulness tricks work?
Unfortunately, many drivers believe that they have tricks to stay awake even when feeling exhausted. While these wakefulness tricks may work in the short term, they do not work over an extended period of time. They largely only give drivers a false sense of security that they will have safety in a situation that is patently unsafe.
In short, no matter how loud a driver blasts their radio or turns up their air conditioning, the body will eventually win out and could fall asleep without a driver even having an awareness of it. Wakefulness tricks do little more than delay the inevitable.