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Driving while tired

You have had a long journey, been driving for hours, it is dark, the heater is on, not much traffic, long straight piece of motorway, kids asleep in the back, when you experience that heart wrenching, stomach turning sensation of your chin bouncing back up from your chest or hear the juddering of the hard shoulder rumble strip and you realise you were starting to fall asleep.

Another two, maybe three seconds and you would have left the carriageway, either colliding with the central reservation barrier or crossing the hard shoulder in to whatever lay beyond.

It is a truly frightening experience, which happens all too often.

People say we shouldn't drive if we feel tired. But often we don't feel tired when we set out; the fatigue creeps up on us as the journey progresses.

Take frequent stops on long journeys, especially at night, pull over and have a coffee, or a walk in the fresh air to try and keep the fatigue at bay. If you do start to feel yourself nodding off, then remember you can't stop on the hard shoulder for a snooze, so open the window, turn off the heater and turn on the radio. At the first available junction, come off the motorway, park up and have some sleep.