First of all, I will echo the others’ advice to get off the road if you even have the slightest doubt of whether or not you can reliably drive.
That said, one of my favorite tricks for staying awake while driving is to have a Big Gulp of cold soda (my preferred is Diet Coke with caffeine, but this should work with non-caffeinated stuff), filled about 1/4 - 1/2 way with ice. Sip the soda slowly…and constantly wipe the condensation off the outside of the cup, and touch the corners of your eyes with the cold liquid that will then be on your fingers. If desperate, you could also reach into the cup, take out a piece of ice, and actually touch that to the corners of your eyes.
I’ve driven some pretty long distances pretty late nights using that trick.
But that’s to prevent me from getting too zonked. If I ever feel my ability to pay attention to the road flagging, I pull over and either sleep a bit while parked, or hand my wife the keys and tell her it’s her turn to drive. Before our family began taking long car trips, a big priority was making sure we had two good highway drivers.
Make a CD of upbeat stuff that you like to sing along to and bring snacks. Pretty much what others have already said.
I also have to second the suggestion of switching drive time with your husband. My sister was the designated driver, driving herself, my brother, my dad and a friend of their home from a funeral one night. They had about a 3 hour drive, and within 15 minutes of being home, she apparently fell asleep (Apparently, because everyone else in the car was asleep.) and rolled her vehicle. She broke her neck, and now, at age 21 is paralyzed and until recently was living in a nursing home (She went back to rehab today and will be coming home after that.). Luckily, everyone else had minor injuries, but man. To think that I could have lost my entire family in one moment just makes me sick.
Look, lack of sleep + long drive = great potential for disaster.
One thing you should NOT do - if you’re having trouble sleeping, do NOT use over the counter “sleep aids” the night before the trip to help you sleep. They can leave you drowsy the next day. Bad, bad, bad.
Drink plenty of fluids. Dehydration can cause fatigue. Lots and lots of fluids.
Stop every two hours for a short break. If you’re drinking plenty of fluids you’ll want to stop to pee anyhow.
IF YOU GET TIRED PULL OVER. I can’t emphasize that enough. Let hubby drive occassionally even if you don’t sleep at those times - you need the mental break. Take a 30 minute nap every… oh, I dunno, six to eight hours. Use hubby to double check your awakeness and alertness.
Another bad story - a friend of mine and her brother drove from Chicago into Canada on a trip to celebrate her graduation from college (I forget their intended destination). She fell asleep at the wheel just outside London, Ontario and the car rolled. Her brother’s neck was broken when the car landed on its roof and collapsed down on his head. She had to climb up a 10 foot embankment with a concussion and a fractured wrist and ribs in order to get help. Do not do this to yourself or your family. The lingering guilt alone will haunt you for the rest of your life, not to mention scars, regrets, and so forth.
I know this may sound a bit unorthodox but if you are not a regular smoker a high-potency(14mg+) nicotine patch can do wonders for your ability to stay awake no matter how tired you are. It does feel very edgy and eerie though so the sunflower seeds/power naps idea the previous posters have suggested may work better.
Both my parents (driver and passenger) would fall asleep on trips with four children in the car. I learned very young that it was up to me to stay awake if I wanted to stay alive. Thinking about this still makes me incredibly angry at my parents, and it left me with the inability to ever sleep in a car.
The extra time it takes you to do whatever you have to do to ensure the safety of you and your family is small potatoes compared to the alternatives. Pull over or share the driving. Share your concerns with your husband and agree that the passenger will stay awake to help the driver stay awake.
A trick mentioned by William Goldman in “Hype and Glory” is chewing gum. (He was using it to stay awake while judging films while jet-lagged) I’ve tried it and it seems to work for driving, but my preference is not to be behind the wheel.
As a hijack,in the “unsung hero” department, I wonder how many lives the guy who invented the sound grooves along the edge of the interstate has saved.
I third the gum idea. I found this out years ago- as far as I can tell, it’s nigh-impossible to fall asleep while chewing something, and it’s hard to keep something in your mouth without chewing it.
I will repeat what others have said. Don’t compromise safety to that extent. There will always be risks with driving but driving while sleep deprived shows poor judgement. I have stopped to spend the night at a hotel less than two hours from my destination. Trying to save money, I slept in a motel that had less than a negative 5 star rating. The pillow smelled like the back of a trucker’s neck, it had shag carpet, and you could see lights from the street underneath the door. It was one of those deals where you ring a bell, push $25.00 under the glass and a guy that hasn’t shaved or washed his t-shirt gives you a real key. Yickety- yick. But, I woke up first light and finished the drive.
Once while making this same drive, this guy kept passing me at 95 mph or more. Then I would see his car stopped on the side of the interstate. I finally saw what he was doing. He would drive for a few minutes at 90+mph and then stop and do jumping jacks. Strange stuff you see on I-10.
I hope you will either share the driving or stop at a motel or roadside park. Good luck, be safe, and take care.
I take a lot of road trips and I have various techniques I use to keep myself alert. Please note that I am NOT talking about “forcing myself to stay awake when I’m really tired” I’m just talking about “driving is boring and this is a way to keep myself from zoning out”.
Eat CRUNCHY food. Doritos are a good choice.
Drink a lot of carbonated stuff. Drink A LOT of anything, period. A side benefit is it will make you have to pee a lot, which is also good because it makes you get up and walk around and break the road monotony on a regular basis. Actually, having to pee kinda keeps you on your toes, too.
Books on tape. Tip: download books from Audible.com and burn them to CD. I think libraries might also have them that you can borrow. I seem to recall that some Cracker Barrel restaurants have a sort of library of books on tape that you can use and then turn in to the next Cracker Barrel.
Talk radio, radio news. It’s easier to focus on continued words. Music can actually make me get a little zoned.
Music that you SING ALONG with. If I do listen to music, I usually sing to it. This helps keep me from turning into a mouth-breathing slackjawed zombie.
Change the temperature. I find it easier to stay alert if I’m too cold, or if it’s too windy.
And as everyone else has said, if you find yourself legitimately TOO SLEEPY you need to pull over and take a nap. These hints are not for wrenching yourself out of a near coma.