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Not to mention the "BOOM BOX CARS" almost all night long. . . every night.
( BOOM BOX, Huge and loud radios first seen on the beaches )


....BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOMBOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM ....


The FREEK'N IDIOTS ! :X

 

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Been there done that, got my fanny raked across the coals here for mentioning that I one time had actually dropped of to sleep on my old Suzuki, with my wife asleep behind ....If she got sleepy, she had enough faith in me to go to sleep....I learned my lesson right then and there got my my knees and thanked the Lord for not letting me kill one or both of us....Then on the side of I-10 up on a grassy spot rolled out our sleeping bags and went to sleep....Even with the big rigs passing us, I never heard them, my lovely wife got out our Sterno stove, the coffee she made woke me up, she had been awake way before me, I had slept till about 10 am, it was close to midnight when I parked that bike....Yeah I crashed...I missed the bacon and eggs though....:shock:

Driving home one night from one of the plants I worked in, we had worked our shift, had a major mess up, got called back 20 minutes after I got home to come back to work...We did called out some other people and worked another 20 hours....Then on the way home I went to sleep, drove off the road into a trash pile at a gate to our water supply tanks....People used that driveway to dump their heavy trash...Pasadena police officer seen me drive into that pile, didn't harm my truck or me, I couldn't have been going 10 mph when I hit that junk!!!....That officer had me get out he checked to see if I had been drinking, I hadn't made sure I was not injured, told me to get some sleep, called my wife, told her I was fine just too sleepy to drive home...In 4 hours he woke me up with a cup of coffee, I drank it, then he followed me to the city limits, had a DPS officer follow me the rest of the way home....Supervisor got his fanny in a sling, we never did that again!!!!!...

Yeah been there done that.....

 

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Sleep deprivation is a real problem, especially driving charter buses. You can't just pull over and tell 50 or more people to wait an hour or two while you take a nap. Lousy shifts and short layovers added to the problem. I got pretty good judging how many No-doz tablets were needed for a given run. I finally gave up driving OTR buses after eight years mainly because of this problem. It would be nice if there was a way to make sure that bus companies didn't push drivers, log books aren't worth the paper they're printed on and the NTSB never seems to look into the problem seriously. Grayhound is a bit better than charters because they have scheduled routes but the charter business is cutthroat and profit margins are razor thing what with the cost of insurance, fuel and half million dollar buses.

I've run some pretty long runs on my bike and never felt drowsy. I don't know why but it doesn't affect me as much as a bus or cage does. True, I've never run more than 750 miles between Stockton, CA and Tacoma, WA at one time. That was a real ride with rain and temps in the high 40s and low 50s the whole way.

 

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FM, that's one of the many reasons I live in the country, but I know the feeling.

Redbaron, good on ya for not putting her down with the wife onboard. There have been times where I got off of my shift after being at work and awake for almost 2 days (in the Navy at the time) and I remember getting into my car in the parking lot at work and then the next thing I remember is being in my driveway about 35 miles away. I did that a few times when I was younger, but now if I'm that tired I would rather lay back in my car's seat (if I'm in the car) and take a nap. I've even pulled into a rest area on the bike and took a nap on the handlebars of my bike which I don't really recommend (very uncomfortable but it works). It's better to be safe and still riding then dead.

 

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Very true exavid. When i'm riding It's easier for me to stay awake. It probably has something to do with sensory stimulation when riding. Almost as if you and the bike were one and the same. In my cage though it's very easy for me to get sleepy and want to close my eyes. I've done trips in my cage that were horrible. One time I drove my family from Colorado springs CO to Lima OH to visit family. When I got there my ex wife (who was back in CO) was throwing a fit because she wasn't going to get her 2 hour visitation with my little girl that week so I got about 2 hours of sleep and drove back to Colorado to get that taken care of and then another 2 hours of sleep to drive back to Ohio. Needless to say I'll never do that again. It sucked so bad. I ended up sleeping most of the next day and was able to only spend about 2 days with my family out of the week that I was supposed to be there. Not to mention something could have happened along the way...

 

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many years ago i got off work a triple shift and i dont even rember the accident all i remember was someone knocking on my door asking me if i was ok i was driving through town 2 miles on the way home and WHAMMO rear ended a car and didnt even know what happend.

to this day im still trying to pay that ins claim

 

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During a phase in my life when sleep deprivation was an on-going problem, I often pulled into a church parking lot and took short naps- sometimes both on my way to work and then again on my way home. It is amazing what a 10-15 minute nap can do for you!

I've done the same thing when riding long distances on a motorcycle. Picnic tables at rest areas, recreation areas or in church yards make fine temporary nap places.

Pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you and respond accordingly. The life you save may be your own!

 

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Churchill spent the entire WWII only sleeping for 20 mins at a time then working for four hours. He would have a cot in his office and at the end of four hours he would ask his orderlies to leave for 20 mins. and he would lay down and take a nap. Kept him going 24/7 for six years.

 

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Yes, but he wasn't driving a car or riding a motorcycle. He had people drive him around.

 

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When I was 19 I had been working in a/c's for almost a year, I worked a 12 hour day in the phoenix heat, then when on a trip to prescott about 70 miles outside phoenix. I decided to come back that night, on the way home I dozed off, woke up 5 miles later still goin' on the same road at about 75mph. The lord looks after children and fools I guess. That was last time I let myself drive when I knew I was too tired.

 

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blackknytecnc wrote:

When I was 19 I had been working in a/c's for almost a year, I worked a 12 hour day in the phoenix heat, then when on a trip to prescott about 70 miles outside phoenix. I decided to come back that night, on the way home I dozed off, woke up 5 miles later still goin' on the same road at about 75mph. The lord looks after children and fools I guess. That was last time I let myself drive when I knew I was too tired.

I've heard of that happening in Kansas, but in AZ? I don't know much about AZ, so are the roads just as flat and strait? :ROFL:

 

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Yeah, but in kansas at least you get some entertainment trying to pick out cars in 10 ft of grass, out here all you get to look at is passing suguaros, then you're reminded of how much they fine you if cut 'em down:smiler:

 

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Yep. In AZ it's not always the road that is the hazard...

 

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lol

 

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I-85 North near Lexington, NC I fell asleep and went for a spin in the median. When I woke up I wa splitting the difference between 2 bridge supports at 70 MPH. I got it stopped just as I heard a Trucker on my CB say "Lord have mercy, Theres a 4 wheeler doing ballet in the median!" I got back on the road and went to the next exit. Wide awake at this time I got out and had to walk around. THe trucker stopped and aother behind him. They checked on me then insisted I go to the truck stop at the top of the ramp so they could buy me coffee. I accepted and the rest of the trip I was wide awake. I almost died that night. That cured me of driving that tired.:angel2:

 

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awingandaprayer wrote:

During a phase in my life when sleep deprivation was an on-going problem, I often pulled into a church parking lot and took short naps- sometimes both on my way to work and then again on my way home. It is amazing what a 10-15 minute nap can do for you!

I've done the same thing when riding long distances on a motorcycle. Picnic tables at rest areas, recreation areas or in church yards make fine temporary nap places.

Pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you and respond accordingly. The life you save may be your own!

I agree 100%. I've been so groggy it was scary. When that happens, I stop at a park or some such and catch a 10-15 minute nap. My wife reads a book and watches our stuff. After the nap I'm good for the rest of the day. Did that very thing today matter of fact. It's just amazing how the short nap fixes you up.

 

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Used to work on the pipelines building microwave tower systems.

During construction season, we would be running from one end to the other end of a 500 mile ditch in the ground.

I still vividly remember having left Albuquerque, NM one night at 2:00 AM for an emergency call. Problem with that was, I only had 2 hours of sleep and having been up for 28 hours straight on a previous emergency repair.

I can remember Bernalillo and San Ysidro, but after that, nothing. I woke up coming into Bloomfield, NM several hours later.

When I realized what I had done, that ended the back to back emergency runs. I put my foot down and said "never more".

IF the feeling of drowsy starts to bother me now, it is pull off the road and get up against the fence way off the road. and grab 2-4 hours of sleep. Never set an alarm clock, just sleep until my body said okay, time to go now.

That was in the late '80s, and it is just as vivid to me now, as it was then. DWD is deadly.

 

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I can't drive 30 miles in my 4 wheeler even mid day without the road hypnosis putting me out. On the bike it's not often that I get that way.

I developed a plan that works for me when riding and getting dozy..

Every half tank of fuel I stop at a McDonald's, take a whiz and grab a fresh hot Mocha. Down that and head back out until it's time for fuel.
I stop to fuel up and then head out to burn off the top half of the tank again before repeating the process.

All those Mochas will make your heart explode out of our chest but you will at least be awake to enjoy it and the 75 miles between stops helps a lot too. The bladder pain before the McD stops will work in your favor as well.

 

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Rudy wrote:

I can't drive 30 miles in my 4 wheeler even mid day without the road hypnosis putting me out. On the bike it's not often that I get that way.

I developed a plan that works for me when riding and getting dozy..

Every half tank of fuel I stop at a McDonald's, take a whiz and grab a fresh hot Mocha. Down that and head back out until it's time for fuel.
I stop to fuel up and then head out to burn off the top half of the tank again before repeating the process.

All those Mochas will make your heart explode out of our chest but you will at least be awake to enjoy it and the 75 miles between stops helps a lot too. The bladder pain before the McD stops will work in your favor as well.

In my cage I can drive as long as it's daylight outside, but when it gets dark, i find myself wanting to close my eyes so I do something similar. Every time I feel myself wanting to close my eyes I will stop and rest from driving for a while be it sleep, walking, etc. I find that chewing gum also helps, but I don't go much farther when I start wanting to close my eyes. I find the nearest place to stop for the night. On the bike is a different story, partly because of the limited range for fuel vs. my car, partly because the bike makes it easier for me to stay awake (in that I mean that I don't get sleepy that quickly on the bike). The bladder thing has helped me on my way home from work many times too.

 

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Like exavid, I don't get drowsy on the bike. I do when driving the car home after a late shift. I never had an accident from being drowsy, but I did have a bad scare one time when I drove through a stop sign at a T junction, almost hitting a wall.