Tips to stay awake while driving

If you are one of those people who gets tired when driving, use these simple tips to keep yourself alert and awake.

There are some people who just love to drive. They can drive all the way from Texas to Florida without making so much as a pit stop. Then there are those of us who, as children, were lulled to sleep by being in a moving car. If you are one of those people whose eyes start to droop just by driving down the street to pick up some milk from the grocery store, then these tips to stay awake while driving are for you.

If Somebody Is In The Car With You

* If you are lucky enough to have somebody in the car with you while driving, strike up a conversation. Granted, you don’t want to talk about something uninteresting like why the stock prices have been dropping (unless you love that sort of thing), or else you will just become more tired. If the person is of driving age, trade off driving duties every hour or so.

* Again if you have somebody in the car with you, especially, if they are younger and unable to drive, come up with some fun car games. You can play the alphabet game where you have to find something around you that starts with the letter A, then the letter B, all the way until you get to the letter Z. You can also play games like I-Spy where one person spies something that the other person has to guess based on its description.

If You Are Alone

* Play some music you love. You will probably want to stay away from anything that may lull you to sleep like classical music, so play some fun music that you can sing along to. Who cares who sees you belting out oldies or country songs or hip-hop? You must do whatever you can to stay awake.

* Whenever you feel yourself starting to get tired, stop and take a break. Stop at a gas station or rest stop and get out of the car and stretch and walk around. You need to get your blood pumping. Even if you have to make several pit stops in the course of your trip, do it.

* Drink caffeinated drinks like coffee and soda. This should keep your energy high.

* Eat something. Of course, you don’t want to have an entire turkey dinner while you are driving and become comatose, but simply snack on some peanuts or chips. This will give you something else to focus on other than being tired.

* Even if it is winter time, try not to keep the car too warm. Being warm causes the body to want to sleep, so try to keep your car as cool as you can possibly stand. If you have to, roll down the windows to have some fresh air hit your face and keep you alert.

* My father, who gets notoriously sleepy when driving, always keeps a wet towel in a plastic sealable bag on his passenger seat. When he starts to get tired, he puts the wet towel on his forehead or neck and then blasts the cold air. This short blast of cold air on your face will keep you alert and awake when your head starts to droop.

While some of these tips may be humorous and silly, it is important to note that countless death and accidents have taken place because somebody fell asleep while driving. Not only will following these tips keep you safe, it will keep others around you safe, as well. Don’t try to force yourself to keep driving when you start getting really sleepy and all of these tips fail. Simply stop in a safe spot (like a well-lit grocery store or a gas station) and take a short snooze if you have to.