Have You Ever Fallen Asleep Driving? [Question Of The Day]

It's amazing how quickly a year passes. Can you believe it's already time for Drowsy Driving Prevention Week? The folks at the National Sleep Foundation would like you to know sleepy driving can cause impaired reaction time, judgment and vision. It also affects information processing and short-term memory. All of this is quite dangerous. Though at least a couple of us may try to avoid driving with less than at least six hours of sleep, others of us are never as lucky. How else do you drive across the country over the weekend? But let's all raise awareness for DDPW and share our stories of driving-while-sleepy and how you fought Mr. Sand Man.

I had to move out of our apartment in Chicago at 4:00 in the morning in order to beat the new people moving in and make it to Little Rock, Arkansas while there was still light outside. Dreading the long drive with my cat and spending my night on a slowly leaking air mattress I barely slept at all. The morning came and I loaded up the car and put the cat carrier in the backseat for the 10-hour first leg. I barely made it onto the freeway before my eyes started to give out on me. I pinched my leg. I played loud music. I tried to sing. I let the cat meow his brains out. Nothing worked.

Then, in the distance, was a sign advertising "Rest Area 30 Miles" and knew what I had to do. Having never actually used a rest stop to rest, I tentatively pulled into a space near the door, brought the cat carrier up to the front, and fell asleep on top of it. The cat and I woke up about half-an-hour later, I grabbed a Wild Cherry Pepsi and started the long trek down the vertical state. The rest did the trick and I was able to listen to the audio book of Team Of Rivals without completely crashing.

What's your story?

(QOTD is your chance to answer the day's most pressing automotive questions and experience the opinions of the insightful insiders, practicing pundits and gleeful gearheads that make up the Jalopnik commentariat. If you've got a suggestion for a good "Question Of The Day" send an email to tips at jalopnik dot com.)

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