Top Five Ways to Stay Alert While Driving

On long trips I often function as the navigator. It is up to me to keep things fresh so the driver doesn't get bored. I have learned lots of tricks through the years.

Everyone knows the basic rule for staying alert is to get enough rest the night before leaving. Whether it is driving to work, or going on a long trip, I never seem to want to go to bed early. If I do go to bed early, I get up several times to organize something I forgot. I used to be up and down three or more times before I could finally relax enough to go to sleep. I have found that if I take paper and pencil to bed and write things down to do in the morning, I can fall asleep quicker than if I jump up and move around.

The most fun way to stay alert while driving is to listen to an audio book. The only thing is if the book gets too exciting you really have to pay attention to your speed. The other extreme is equally bad, since a boring book could put you to sleep. Feel free to alternate stories with music that you like enough to sing along.

It is a fact that you can't eat and sleep at the same time. All my life the car has had bags of hard candy for trips. For longer trips there are more elaborate food arrangements and of course there is coffee. I know someone who says he stops at a fast food drive through to get two coffees. By putting one between his legs, he has to worry that he won't spill it and burn his legs. At the same time after he drink the other coffee, his stomach is so queasy that he stays awake.

Change also helps. Open a window, or turn on the air conditioning. Warm air tends to help me nod off. If you really want to wake up, take a wrong turn. The excitement of looking for street signs while trying to figure out where you are and where you need to go can really wake you up. It helps you to notice your surroundings while you experience the adrenalin rush of being lost.

If all else fails you can fall back on the games our parents played on their trips. Count things- red cars, green houses, cows, excavators, whatever. My parents counted ground hogs. Tradition has been that you go back to zero if the cemetery is on your side of the car. Make words out of license plates, or try to find a license plate from every state. These kind of competitions have kept people awake and aware for years.

These things have worked for me and as they say "Happy Motoring."