You start yawning a lot, yourbreyelids feel heavy, your head starts to nod and your vision seems blurry. Nextbrthing you know, you’ve veered to the side of the road and you quickly try tobrstraighten the wheel. Okay, so this time you were lucky — next time you couldbrbe the tragic victim of drowsy driving. Fatigue greatly increases the chancesbrof an accident — drowsy driving causes more than 100,000 crashes a year,brresulting in 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths.
Listen to your body — it may savebryour life
Pull over and rest if you experience:
- Difficulty focusing, frequent blinking, or heavybr eyelids
- Daydreaming; wandering/disconnected thoughts
- Trouble remembering the last few miles driven; missingbr exits or traffic signs
- Yawning repeatedly or rubbing your eyes
- Trouble keeping your head up
- Drifting from your lane, tailgating, or hitting abr shoulder rumble strip
- Feeling restless, irritable or aggressive
- Impaired reaction time and judgment
- Decreased performance, vigilance and motivation
Are you at risk?
The risk of drowsy driving increases if you are:
- Sleep deprived or fatigued
- Driving long distances without proper rest breaks
- Driving through the night
- Drinking even small amounts of alcohol
- Driving alone or on long, rural, dark or boring roads
- Taking medications that may sedate such as coldbr tablets, antihistamines or antidepressants
- Experiencing jet lag
Make sleep a priority
Sleep is as important, if not more important than diet and exercise. Expertsbrrecommend 8½-9½ hours of sleep for teens and young adults and 7-9 hours forbradults. Don’t get into “sleep debt” — an accumulation of insufficient sleepbrthat must be repaid often at unexpected times such as when you’re behind thebrwheel. Sleep is a necessity, not a luxury. Be smart about sleep — make it abrpart of your regular schedule.
Takeaway:
Know the signs, listen to your body and pull over. It maybrsave your life!
The Kevin Hendricks Agency - Farmers Insurance
The Kevin Hendricks Agency of Farmers Insurance is a groupbrof experts who focus on you, and help you select the best insurance for yourbrindividual needs. Whatever your situation may be, we will create a custombrsolution for your complete protection.
We're authorities on insurance, and will assist you inbrdetermining what fits your needs best. We'll quote any type of insurance youbrneed — large or small, we can handle it for you.
As your personal Farmers agent, my staff and I are alwaysbrready come to your assistance quickly and personally. We provide superiorbrpersonalized, professional service, and, of course, you can depend on thebrinsurance coverage we provide.