Assessing one's physical or mental fitness to drive.
Discussion
Having just returned from foreign parts, I have found myself needing to assess my fitness for driving whilst jet-lagged. I have been east, so in the evening driving home from work I have been doing so at a time that would be 4am where I had been out east.
There is defintely a detrimantal effect. I'm not sleepy as such but am definitely jet-lagged. This manifests itself clearly as a degradation of hazard perception. I can feel it taking slightly longer to notice, plan and react to hazards.
So I have been taking action to mitigate the effects, mainly giving myself extra time, space, gaps, lower speeds. This has worked as last night on a windy B road, the rangey in front had to do an emergency stop for a big flood. It took me longer to react than it would have done normally, so I ended up having to brake more sharply than I should, had a small lockup, cadence braked (no ABS) and stopped in the distance ok. So that was a mistake (for which I have just forgiven myself (excellent other thread btw)).
Now here's the question...how do you decide when you are below par when it would be wrong to drive? I have reasonable experience of when to rest when tired, but not enough experience of the effects of jet lag.
Bert
There is defintely a detrimantal effect. I'm not sleepy as such but am definitely jet-lagged. This manifests itself clearly as a degradation of hazard perception. I can feel it taking slightly longer to notice, plan and react to hazards.
So I have been taking action to mitigate the effects, mainly giving myself extra time, space, gaps, lower speeds. This has worked as last night on a windy B road, the rangey in front had to do an emergency stop for a big flood. It took me longer to react than it would have done normally, so I ended up having to brake more sharply than I should, had a small lockup, cadence braked (no ABS) and stopped in the distance ok. So that was a mistake (for which I have just forgiven myself (excellent other thread btw)).
Now here's the question...how do you decide when you are below par when it would be wrong to drive? I have reasonable experience of when to rest when tired, but not enough experience of the effects of jet lag.
Bert
Can't answer your question, but I'd say that you need to be very careful. There was a case recently in the news I think of a guy who crashed on returning from his holidays on an overnight flight.
I'm a bit concerned that I'm going to be doing something similar - 9 hour flight home and then a 3 hour journey...but if it comes to it I'll check into a hotel.
I'm a bit concerned that I'm going to be doing something similar - 9 hour flight home and then a 3 hour journey...but if it comes to it I'll check into a hotel.
I quite reqularly drive home from work after night shifts. Worst of these is when I drive in for a 12 hour shift on a Saturday Night after 6 12 hour night shifts when I usually get the train. Combine this with the fact that I usually do a few hours 'unplanned' overtime at the end of a Saturday Night shift I'll be driving home when very sleep deprived and after up to 20 hours work.
Fortunately my drive is only about 45 minutes and 30 miles.
My tactics are this:
1) Avoid the journey if possible. If I know I am beyond tired by Saturday Night I'll get the train in anyway and wait for the train out on Sunday.
2) Have a Friend. I give a guy I work with a lift home to within 10 miles of my house. This helps me concentrate, gives me someone to talk to and hopefully some one to prod me awake if it all goes wrong!
3) Loud music. I keep a couple of Drum 'n' Bass and Hard House CD's in my changer. It's physically impossible to nod off with this crap turned up loud, especially through a 1000 Watt Stereo.
4) Focus on my Driving. I try and treat the whole drive as an 'advanced' drive, and purposefully critiscise small errors and try and avoid making them again. I will freely admit that I tend to drive fast as well (when safe i.e. no other road user visible anywhere) as this helps me concentrate and gives me a much needed hit of adrenaline. I'm sure there are many people who will heavily criticise "Driving fast when tired". All I can say is that it works for me, and I do not endanger anyone in doing so. I am far more likely to fall asleep pootling at 70Mph in Lane 1.
Shift chages often feel a bit like jetlag. However I have to say that after a long haul flight I would not choose to drive any more than around the corner if it could be avoided in anyway. Far better to get a good nights sleep and pick up the hire car in the morning. Or, consider getting a taxi/driver for the journey you have to make and picking up your own car at the desitnation, again after a hotel rest. You've got the added stress of unfamilar roads, rules and road users to contend with and driving when spaced out in these conditions is a recipe for accidents.
Fortunately my drive is only about 45 minutes and 30 miles.
My tactics are this:
1) Avoid the journey if possible. If I know I am beyond tired by Saturday Night I'll get the train in anyway and wait for the train out on Sunday.
2) Have a Friend. I give a guy I work with a lift home to within 10 miles of my house. This helps me concentrate, gives me someone to talk to and hopefully some one to prod me awake if it all goes wrong!
3) Loud music. I keep a couple of Drum 'n' Bass and Hard House CD's in my changer. It's physically impossible to nod off with this crap turned up loud, especially through a 1000 Watt Stereo.
4) Focus on my Driving. I try and treat the whole drive as an 'advanced' drive, and purposefully critiscise small errors and try and avoid making them again. I will freely admit that I tend to drive fast as well (when safe i.e. no other road user visible anywhere) as this helps me concentrate and gives me a much needed hit of adrenaline. I'm sure there are many people who will heavily criticise "Driving fast when tired". All I can say is that it works for me, and I do not endanger anyone in doing so. I am far more likely to fall asleep pootling at 70Mph in Lane 1.
Shift chages often feel a bit like jetlag. However I have to say that after a long haul flight I would not choose to drive any more than around the corner if it could be avoided in anyway. Far better to get a good nights sleep and pick up the hire car in the morning. Or, consider getting a taxi/driver for the journey you have to make and picking up your own car at the desitnation, again after a hotel rest. You've got the added stress of unfamilar roads, rules and road users to contend with and driving when spaced out in these conditions is a recipe for accidents.
Hmm.
I don't seem to suffer that much from driving long distances in one go (all night) I tend to be able to drive for a long time without any toilet breaks and have a car with a range of nearly 1000 miles on a full tank at motorway speed limits and often drive 800 miles in one go without any form of stops or breaks.
I don't usually feel weary or tired at all, and often drive with a passengers who are either 'bad' passengers who would notice the second I did something which would be attributed to tiredness and shout at me until I stopped, or passengers whom are highly trained (IAM etc) drivers who would just tell me to stop.
My usual trip is from Calais to Monaco (or Nice). I can fill up with fuel in Calais in the late afternoon, and be on the beach the following morning having driven solidly through the night without any breaks. I honestly do not feel weary at all and would stop if I did.
Do we all have different tolerances? (My girlfriend for example, is notorious for falling asleep whilst halfway through a conversation if she's tired, and would almost certainly make a terrible long-distance driver).
I did once fall asleep after riding a motorbike solidy for nearly 24 hours, stopping only for fuel. I didn't crash, but woke up at 40mph in the hard shoulder. That experience taught me to stop as soon as I feel weary or tired.
I don't seem to suffer that much from driving long distances in one go (all night) I tend to be able to drive for a long time without any toilet breaks and have a car with a range of nearly 1000 miles on a full tank at motorway speed limits and often drive 800 miles in one go without any form of stops or breaks.
I don't usually feel weary or tired at all, and often drive with a passengers who are either 'bad' passengers who would notice the second I did something which would be attributed to tiredness and shout at me until I stopped, or passengers whom are highly trained (IAM etc) drivers who would just tell me to stop.
My usual trip is from Calais to Monaco (or Nice). I can fill up with fuel in Calais in the late afternoon, and be on the beach the following morning having driven solidly through the night without any breaks. I honestly do not feel weary at all and would stop if I did.
Do we all have different tolerances? (My girlfriend for example, is notorious for falling asleep whilst halfway through a conversation if she's tired, and would almost certainly make a terrible long-distance driver).
I did once fall asleep after riding a motorbike solidy for nearly 24 hours, stopping only for fuel. I didn't crash, but woke up at 40mph in the hard shoulder. That experience taught me to stop as soon as I feel weary or tired.
Sometimes you feel ok, prior to getting into the car, but as you drive along you realise that your reactions aren't as sharp as they should be. In this situation I have pulled into service stations and slept. Returning from a driving holiday once I realised as I was having dinner that I was too tired to complete the remaining four or five hour journey so checked into a hotel.
Edited by EmmaP on Monday 12th March 11:04
EmmaP said:
Sometimes you feel ok, prior to getting into the car, but as you drive along you realise that your reactions aren't as sharp as they should be.
That was exactly it Emma. Got in and found reactions to be just a little slow. Wasn't obviously tired or sleepy. So the question is how bad would it need to be for one to decide to not drive?
Bert
hey syd knee! 
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