Other hints & tips
Other hints & tips
Avoid Fatigue and Tiredness
Stress and fatigue reduce your concentration and tolerance levels and increase your risk of having an accident. You are also more likely to get frustrated with the behaviour of other motorists.
- Plan your route in advance: motorists waste more than 100 million gallons of fuel a year - not to mention time - trying to find their way.
- Consciously decide before getting into the car that you're going to leave your problems outside, and determine that, whatever happens on the journey, you won't let it get to you. The right mind-set can make all the difference.
- Get comfortable. Adjust seat, mirrors, seatbelt and head restraint correctly.
- Vehicles that perform badly or break down add to stress: keep your car well maintained and serviced.
- Be cool. Driving should be enjoyable, not competitive.
Long journeys and business driving
- Leave plenty of time to reach your destination.
- Take a break of at least 15 minutes after every two or three hours of driving.
- Eat a light meal before you set off on a long journey: heavy meals can make you lethargic.
- Arrange work appointments realistically, with plenty of time to travel between offices.
- If a meeting some distance away is scheduled for early morning, drive there the night before and stay over.
- Employers can help to ease stress among staff that travel by adjusting their demands and deadlines to take account of the delays and fatigue caused by traffic congestion.
- If you feel sleepy, stop in a safe place. Do not stop on the hard shoulder of a motorway.
- The most effective ways of countering sleepiness are to take a short nap (up to 15 minutes) or to drink something that contains caffeine. Fresh air, exercise or turning up the radio may help for a short time, but are not as effective.
