Tips to Stay Alert While Driving

Drowsy drivers can be just as dangerous as drunk drivers. Follow these tips to stay safe on the road.

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• Family Safety
• Driving
• Road Trips
• Sleep

At any given time, some 70 million Americans are operating on inadequate sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Here are tips for staying safe and alert when you're behind the wheel:

• Don't skimp on sleep, and don't drive long distances when you'd normally be asleep.



• Avoid alcohol and any medications that could make you drowsy when you need to drive.



• Plan to drive long trips with a companion who will stay awake to talk; periodically switch drivers. Schedule regular stops every 100 miles or two hours.

Studies suggest that strategies drivers often use to try to stay awake -- rolling down the car windows, turning up the radio, stopping to stretch -- aren't effective. If you find yourself growing sleepy while you're driving, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recommends that you stop for a caffeinated drink and nap for 20 minutes while you wait for the caffeine to take effect.

From Reader's Digest - April 2007

 

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There is a folk belief that if you bury a statue of St. Joseph on a piece of property, it will be sold more quickly. When I was getting ready to move, I took the St. Joseph from my nativity scene and buried him near my front door. A few days later a woman made an offer. Since she had to sell her property, I suggested she enlist the help of the saint as well. After a month of burying the statue all over her lawn, she had no nibbles and in disgust put the statue out in her trash. A week later she opened her local paper and read: "Town Sells Landfill to Private Developer."

-- Frances Lacasse, Fairhaven, Maine

“ I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing. ”

— Jonathan Swift

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