{"id":458,"date":"2019-07-16T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/?p=458"},"modified":"2025-10-21T20:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T03:08:10","slug":"asleep-at-the-wheel-how-to-stay-awake-and-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/auto-insurance\/driving-safety\/asleep-at-the-wheel-how-to-stay-awake-and-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Asleep at the Wheel \u2014 How to Stay Awake and Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Riddle: Which one is worse? Falling asleep while defusing a time bomb or, getting behind the wheel of your car when you\u2019re dog-tired and can\u2018t stay awake? Answer: They\u2019re both the same. Because driving while exhausted and drowsy-eyed makes you, for all intents and purposes, a rolling time-bomb on a hazardous road where havoc\u2026 possible injury, and even death await \u2013 not to mention, higher car insurance<\/a> rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time you get behind the wheel with little sleep, or start to fade after a long day at work, or get drowsy while on a long road trip\u2026think about this. If you fall asleep at the wheel, you are potentially as lethal to yourself and others as an intoxicated driver looking to get busted for a DUI. And, in the end, the results can be virtually alike\u2026 tragic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driver fatigue and falling asleep at the wheel while driving has been recognized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as a major cause of car crashes. According to the NHTSA<\/a> there may be approximately 100,000 automobile accidents due to driver fatigue each year. Of those, an estimated 1,550 result in deaths, with as many as 71,000 injuries, causing over $12.5 billion in damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you consider that an estimated 10-20% of fatal accidents and 5-10% of all accidents may be related to sleepy or tired drivers, you can understand the plight facing car insurance companies. Accidents occur under the best of conditions, but when you throw in the usual DUI caused accident and the DWA (Driving While Asleep) car crash, it becomes obvious that the two combine for a substantial amount of accidents on a yearly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s more food for thought. If you\u2019re beginning to snooze behind the wheel, your reaction times are dramatically slower to virtually non-existent. Even if when awake you think of yourself a poor man\u2019s Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind the wheel, guess what? If you nod off at 70 mph and run into something or someone, providing you survive, you\u2019re nothing more than a poor man\u2019s \u201csleeping\u201d Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind the wheel\u2026and your insurance company will now look at you in a whole new light with a whole new higher annual premium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s common for all of us at least once. We justify continuing on with self-assuring statements such as: \u201cWe\u2019re almost there\u201c. \u201cIt\u2019s not that far\u201c. \u201cI can make it\u201c. The point is, it\u2019s not really worth it. Don\u2019t push it. Every mile you drive beyond your limit you\u2019re playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with a two-ton bullet, putting your life, your passengers, or innocent other drivers at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should you do to avoid falling asleep while driving?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Take a short nap prior to leaving and pull over every 2 hours.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Share the driving if not alone. There is no shame in riding shotgun to catch a few z\u2019s.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. If alone, load up on caffeine (lots of it)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Avoid all-nighters.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    What should you do if you start falling asleep behind the wheel?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. If you start and cannot stop yawning, stop driving.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. If you start weaving and cannot maintain a steady speed, stop driving.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. If you are \u201ctrying\u201d to stay awake and it\u2018s a losing battle, stop driving.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      What if all else fails?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. You\u2019re too tired to drive. Stop and give your body what nature intended for it to have. No\u2026not a gallon of coffee\u2026sleep. Accept it. It\u2019s for your health and your safety, not to mention keeping your car insurance premiums low.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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        Riddle: Which one is worse? Falling asleep while defusing a time bomb or, getting behind the wheel of your car when you\u2019re dog-tired and can\u2018t stay awake? Answer: They\u2019re both the same. Because driving while exhausted and drowsy-eyed makes you, for all intents and purposes, a rolling time-bomb on a hazardous road where havoc\u2026 possible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-driving-safety"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4487,"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions\/4487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insureone.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}