What are the causes of fatigued driving?
4 Answers
Here are the causes of fatigued driving: 1. Living environment: Residence is too far from workplace; excessive household chores or marital discord; heavy mental burden; extensive social activities with prolonged recreational engagements. 2. Sleep quality: Late bedtime with insufficient sleep duration; poor sleep quality; noisy sleeping environment affecting rest. 3. In-vehicle environment: Poor air quality and inadequate ventilation; excessively high or low temperatures; severe noise and vibration; improper seat adjustment; tense relationships with fellow passengers. 4. External environment: Driving during afternoon, evening, early morning, or late-night hours; poor road conditions; driving in sandstorm, rain, fog, or snow; adverse traffic conditions or congestion. 5. Operating conditions: Prolonged and long-distance driving; excessively high or low speeds; rigid time constraints for reaching destinations. 6. Physical condition: Poor stamina and endurance; declining vision/hearing; physical weakness or chronic illness; taking medication contraindicated for driving; female physiological periods (menstruation, pregnancy). 7. Driving experience: Low technical proficiency and unfamiliarity with operations; limited driving time, lack of experience, and poor safety awareness. 8. Medication effects: It is advisable to avoid driving when taking medications that may induce drowsiness by relaxing the nervous system.
Having driven night shifts as a taxi driver for fifteen years, I know exactly why people get drowsy at the wheel. After driving continuously for over four hours, your eyes start to ache, and your reactions slow down. Especially between 2 AM and 5 AM when there are fewer cars on the road, it’s easier to lose focus. I once had an old buddy who got drowsy after lunch and could barely keep a steady grip on the steering wheel. The body’s internal clock demands rest at certain times—pushing through just doesn’t work. Driving in stuffy, high temperatures also leads to fatigue; one summer, I didn’t turn on the AC and nearly veered onto the roadside greenery. My advice: pull over at a rest area every two hours, splash cold water on your face, and walk around for five minutes—it could save your life in a critical moment.
Our company is engaged in long-distance transportation, and fatigue driving is all too common. The day before yesterday, Master Li was delivering an urgent shipment and drove continuously for ten hours, ending up with the vehicle riding onto the guardrail on the highway. Checking the dashcam footage revealed he blinked over thirty times in five minutes. When sleep-deprived, judgment deteriorates, making it hard to time overtaking maneuvers accurately. Nowadays, vehicle systems come with fatigue alerts that sound an alarm when eyelids droop. The best approach is to plan routes in advance and arrange for replacement drivers. Keeping some cooling oil on hand is no substitute for a twenty-minute nap, and three cups of coffee can't compare to a quick shut-eye.
Last week, I took my daughter on a self-driving trip and almost had an accident during the three-hour highway drive. Right after passing the toll booth, I felt my eyelids getting heavy, even though I had slept a full eight hours the night before. Later, I found out through research that this is called the highway hypnosis effect, where constant speed and monotonous surroundings can reduce alertness. The car's air conditioning being too warm also makes it easy to feel drowsy—I had to lower it by two degrees to feel more awake. For long-distance driving, it's recommended to vary your speed, open the window for fresh air, and avoid listening to slow-paced music. Parents with kids need to be extra careful—children making noise in the back seat can actually make you more mentally tense and more exhausting than driving in silence.
