Defensive Driving
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A Texas Drowsy Driving Story
Drowsy driving is an aspect of unsafe driving that I've been adamantly against ever since a student at my high school was killed in a car accident because he was driving drowsy. He was driving home from a concert one night and fell asleep at the wheel. His car veered into the oncoming lane of traffic, slowly coasted off to the side of the road, ramped off of a guardrail, flipped upside down mid-air, and he died on impact.
The impact of the crash was felt throughout our high school. After consoling my friends for days to weeks, attending the funeral, and seeing how many people one person can affect; it was incredibly easy to make the decision to only drive when I have the energy, stamina, and where-with-all to do so. I've been on several road trips since then and the memory his crash was a constant reminder to never drive when I was tired.
One road trip was from Houston, Texas, to Boulder, Colorado. It was almost an eighteen-hour drive. I traveled with a friend so we made several stops to rest and recover ourselves before getting back on the road. We stopped in Oklahoma to visit his sister. We stopped long enough to eat and chat for a bit, but we didn't want to stay off the road too long because we knew we'd get tired if we sat idle for too long.
We also took shifts in sleeping. I would sleep while he drove and if he became too tired to drive we would switch out. Even though he didn't get too tired to drive, if my friend needed me to do so, I would have taken over.
My other road trips were from Houston, Texas, to south Florida and back. I made the trip there twice and I made the trip back twice. Every time I made the trip, I knew I needed to get a full night's rest the night before and I needed to get on the road within an hour or so of waking up. I also had a case of energy drinks with me just in case I started to feel fatigued and found I was nowhere near a rest stop where I could stop to recharge. Even in that scenario, the energy drinks were only intended to keep me going long enough to get to a place to rest.
Between the four times I've driven that distance, there were several instances where I stopped and rested. Whether it was at a restaurant to just get something to eat and get out of the car for a bit, or at a rest area to catch a short nap. I didn't have anyone with me so I couldn't switch drivers. The only option was to stop and get some rest. There was no amount of loud music or spicy food that could keep me awake for an entire eighteen-hour drive. I just had to rest until I felt up to driving again.
All these preventative measures kept me driving safe and alert. The sad thing is that it took the death of a classmate to make me realize the dangers of driving tired. Don't let your friends be the example of how you shouldn't drive and don't be the example for them. Take the steps necessary now to drive awake and alert at all times.
This is a personal story from Adam Komar a defensive driving instructor in Texas, working for Comedy Driving Inc, a Texas Defensive Driving Class.
