Falling Asleep While Driving

[maverick]

Woke to find my VW bouncing in the field parallel to 99.

That will wake one up.

[balance]

There have been a couple occasions of driving where I've gotten that horrible feeling of waking up behind the wheel, after being "asleep" for a second or two. No bad consequences, but I'm certainly never going to let that happen again.

I suspect this causes more accidents than we realize. Please people, don't ever take that kind of risk. Good thing you brought this to our attention.

[RoguePhotonic]

I've been pretty tired while going to or from some adventure but never came close to falling asleep. I did however coming back from Mt. Tom decide to stop in the middle of the desert and sleep in the back of my truck all night instead of continuing to grind on home.

[oleander]

I don't have a problem driving on little sleep up to the Sierra.

But I have a TERRIBLE problem driving back, after the sun goes down. I honestly feel I cannot see very well with all the headlights. It has made me wonder if there is something about being out in the woods that affects our eyes, making them disused to the bright headlights and unable to process them or to see around them. Feels very unsafe.

Add to that the facts that (a) I've been going to bed early so I'm getting sleepy early; and (b) I've probably gotten a good bit of exercise earlier that day - and you have a recipe for either falling asleep at the wheel or missing something with your eyes when the headlights mess with you.

It's so bad that I will often plan around getting home before dark, or not too long after. Or, if I have a driving partner, I might ask him/her in advance to take over once it gets dark, if that person is not as affected as me.

- Elizabeth

[rlown]

But I have a TERRIBLE problem driving back, after the sun goes down. I honestly feel I cannot see very well with all the headlights. It has made me wonder if there is something about being out in the woods that affects our eyes, making them disused to the bright headlights and unable to process them or to see around them. Feels very unsafe.

Given I don't know your age, but after 50, your vision will be impacted just on age alone. It's not about being in the woods. Eyes can't focus very well after a point in time. I used to love night driving. Not anymore.

[LMBSGV]

A few years ago, I began to have problems with the glare from headlights when driving at night, especially on two-lane highways with oncoming traffic such as 120. At my next eye exam, I told my optometrist and she said get the anti-glare coating for my glasses. Since then, the problem has largely gone away. So if you wear glasses when driving, one might want to pay the extra for the anti-glare addition. I’ve found the coating also helps when I'm hiking in terms of sun glare.

[rlown]

The coatings do work. to a point.

[Jimr]

I've gone through two pair of transition lenses. If the anti-glare are different from transition lenses, then it may be o.k., but what I have experienced (perhaps others have experienced this as well) is they work wonderfully, but hiking in the high UV of the high country damages the coating and they begin to look like a bad window tinting job. They get crackly. That's the only way I can explain it. Like wrinkled cellophane over the lens. The glasses become unusable. Mine would last two seasons, then they'd get so bad that I could not use them at all. I just bought new lenses (third pair) without any sort of photo sensitivity. I'm tired of paying for lenses when my eyes have not changed in 15 years. I just use polarized clip-ons.

I think what Oleander is saying is she does not normally have night driving issues, but has a terrible, wait a minute, TERRIBLE issue driving home from a backpacking trip in the dark. If it only happens under certain conditions, you gotta wonder what the relationship may be. With the damage to my lenses, I didn't put it together until this last season that it was related to high country hiking.

[Cross Country]

In this aspect, the vast majority of the people are a great deal luckier than I. I have dozed while driving hundreds of times, maybe a thousand. For this reason I don't drink sodas or coffee with caffeine. I only doze off for one second and when that happens I stop and buy a caffeine drink. The drinking of it keeps me wide awake and after I finish, the caffeine kicks in. Sometimes I have to drink more than one.

[Ska-T]

If you are an insomniac like me who doesn't normally consume caffeinated drinks, then falling asleep at the wheel is rarely a problem.

That said, driving back in the heat after consuming a huge post-hike meal is a risk factor. Worse for me, being a procrastinator, is the trip up typically having had little sleep. While backpacking I go to bed 4 hrs earlier than usual, thus I am well rested for the drive back.