Wulfheir

I just get in the door at home from my bike ride home, and my wife calls me from her cell while she's driving. Usually this is the point in our conversation where I tell her it's unsafe to drive and talk, followed by me hanging up on her. But this time she says, "I called you to keep me awake so I don't fall asleep at the wheel.". I tell her to pull over immediately and either call a cab or sleep. She tells me she can't because she'll block traffic, and that it's unsafe to do so. So I decided to talk to her for awhile and preach about how the most unsafe driving practice I can think of is driving while talking on the cell phone coupled with being drowsy.

What would you have done?

twahl

Talked to your wife so she didn't fall asleep. Which is more dangerous, talking on the phone while driving or sleeping while driving? I do this with my wife often, with her hands free while driving. It's better than her falling asleep after she's pulled a long shift at work.

CommuterRun

As much as I dislike cell phone use while driving because it takes too much of the driver's attention away from the task at hand, it can be done without crashing.

I tried sleeping while driving once a long time ago. It didn't work out and I didn't walk away.

Years later a friend of mine tried the sleeping while driving thing. He lived, but was injured much worse than I was.

slowandsteady

At least she called you. She should have stopped, taken a nap, called a cab, or bought some coffee. Clearly she needs to make sleep a higher priority. See what you can do, to alleviate her responsibilities so that she can get some more sleep. Drowsy driving is as dangerous as DUI and the penalties are the same.

bmclaughlin807

yeah... sleeping while driving isn't very good. I've tried it twice, and though nobody was hurt either time, it was NOT fun.

I would much rather have a driver come up behind me on a cell phone than asleep!

vxla

I would have talked to her, and I'm glad you did. Those aren't really times to lecture someone -- lectures are tiring themselves! If she does that again, engage her in a conversation that has her talking more to keep her awake. Then give her the lecture when she gets home.

By the way, apparently eating fresh vegetables is a good way to keep oneself awake. Carrots, celery, etc.

hockeyteeth

I think you did the right thing lecturing her when she called you. If you're so tired that you think you'll fall asleep driving, I should think talking on the phone would take away much-needed concentration. Haven't any of you ever noticed when you talk on the phone while driving that you have a hard time remembering what you passed or how far you drove? That's a clear indication that talking on the phone when driving is a TERRIBLE idea.

Wulfheir

Thx for the feedback. She got home safe and sound, then took a long nap. Her cell phone has speaker phone, so she used that.

I've never fallen asleep at the wheel, but I hallucinated once highway driving at night from lack of sleep. I pulled over immediately and slept until morning.

supcom

Pulling off the road at the next gas station and taking a 20 minute power nap would have been the best solution. A short 20 minute nap will clear the head long enough to drive another couple hours.

SamHouston

I'd have told my wife to pull over, I cannot see how it could or would be unsafe to do so. If you're on a surface road there are many opportunities to pull over everywhere. If you're on a highway in a populated region the next exit is just seconds away, putting you on a surface road with many otpions for getting off the road.

LittleBigMan

Whenever I talk, I put my wife to sleep.

I'm not sure there is anything I could do to help someone else drive without actually taking the wheel.

explody pup

Phone sex.

mlh122

drowsy, talking on cell phone in one hand, with the other hand not on the wheel either

haha, if you're not a smoker, not an ex smoker, and don't have a predisposition to becoming addicted to stuff. cigarettes can work. seriously, i'm not a smoker, i was a smoker for a couple years about 10 years ago but i never got addicted and stopped because i smelled bad and it was expensive. but when you don't regularly smoke and then light up, the nicotine is a pretty good stimulant. if i'm driving on a long dark lonely highway and getting tired i pull over and get a pack of cigarettes and a coffee, in addition to the nicotine keeping you up (and the coffee too) the act of smoking itself seems to keep me awake more than just having both hands on the wheel and sipping coffee every now and then. i know i may get flamed for this but hey this works for me.

oh and if its cold out, roll the window down, for me being warm makes me sleepy, being uncomfortably cold but not shivering helps keep me awake.

oh oh perhaps pull over and do some jumping jacks outside

flag a trucker down and see if he has some meth (just kidding)

in summary 1) coffee 2) tobacco 3) keep cold