Driving While Fatigued

You’ve probably heard this plenty of times before, but I’ll be the next to tell you: driving while fatigued can be a dangerous and deadly game. If you haven’t heard about the dangers of driving while tired, let me fill you in.

Fatigue is an overall feeling of exhaustion that comes over the body over time. It can be the result of a long workday, a lot of stress, bad sleep, poor diet, and substance abuse. Regardless of the cause, fatigue can prove fatal on the road. A tired driver can be just as dangerous—if not more dangerous—than an impaired driver who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When a driver is operating a vehicle and is tired, he or she may not react to—or notice—road dangers that are ahead. This can result in delayed response and subsequent collision into other vehicles and/or objects. The driver may also start swerving into other lanes, which can quickly cause a collision.

To avoid driving while drowsy, it is important to recognize some danger signs. If you feel like you aren’t able to focus or keep your eyes open, if you have a hard time keeping your head up, or if you cannot stop yawning—this is an indication that you need to rest instead of drive. Other telltale signs that should tell you to stop driving are wandering and confused thoughts, not remembering the last few miles driven, and a pattern of speeding up/slowing down. If you have already started driving and start to feel these symptoms, it is better to pull over to a rest area and take a nap rather than keep driving to your destination.

The same way you want to avoid driving while fatigued, you also want to make sure that you’re driving a well-functioning car. When it comes down to it, if you’re stalling on getting something as simple as seat belt repair, it can potentially have even worse consequences than driving while being tired! An affordable seat belt repair shop that performs quality seat belt repair is Safety Restore. The company also only takes 24 hours to complete the seat belt repair, so you wouldn’t have to wait long to be back on the road again!