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xkcd #2932: Driving PSA
(imgs.xkcd.com)
Alt text:
This PSA brought to you by several would-be assassins who tried to wave me in front of speeding cars in the last month and who will have to try harder next time.
Do what is expected of you, not what is polite.
Rules of the road:
really good point. Sleep on your friend's couch, get a motel room, sleep in your car in a Walmart parking lot.. Just don't drive when you're tired
Example warning!
This is from real life.
I hit the road late in the afternoon after working most of the day. It was a 14 hour drive. I had to be there as soon as I could. With my own car. Getting to my mom when Dad died.
I pushed myself so much that I got so tired that I kept missing the freeway exits. I was desperate to pull over and go to sleep but I was also so exhausted that I kept driving past the turn offs unintentionally. A nightmarish feeling being in that situation. I only managed to make it by going turtle slow and then turning off at the next exit, and once on a regular road I just pulled over on the shoulder and fell instantly asleep.
I was 31 and physically fit. The point is, assume you are more tired than you think you are. Take it easy on yourself. Be cautious. If I had hurt someone I couldn’t live with myself.
Been driving between Chicago to Houston in single shot trips the past few weeks while relocating. Only 25 and can still stay awake for a good 42 hours or so before I collapse, but mix in the hypnotic highway constantly running past/the car vibrations and it's a different story.
So I always stop for coffee to make sure im mentally present before hoping on I45.
to expand on number 5, drive the flow speed! If traffic is moving at 55, yeah that sucks but you're not going to make up more than a minute or so by speeding through them. And if traffic is doing 75, don't do 55 unless you're desperately low on gas. The savings from not maneuvering so much are huge. (Unless you're driving EVs, they have constant power instead of gears and RPMs. Which is why they should be far more clearly marked.)
This goes especially for EVs. Wind resistance really chews up your power budget once you're above 55mph or so. May as well run the heater with the windows down at that point.