Fell asleep in the saddle! wtf

Burtonsnow157 · Jul 14, 2008

So the past week has been very busy for me, and i haven't been getting enough sleep and apparently it caught up with me. Ive been to NYC all night, and to the Southampton the day after (sat. into sun.) I stayed up til' 5am and woke up at 8 to take a shower and drive back home. The road i was traveling on was a 3 lane highway with about 30 feet of grass inbetween, no guard rails or anything.

I was extremely fatigued but didn't think too much of it. I was going 70 with cruise control on in the left lane. An article i read had this to say about that

A drowsy driver moving at 70 miles-per-hour will travel nearly the length of a football field if he or she falls asleep for even two and a half seconds

So, I fell asleep at some point, and woke up driving on the grass with a bridge support coming up in about 200 feet
In a panic i cut the wheel back and slid back onto the highway and started to spin out. . probably did like a 360 and then changed directions and spun another 180. . . luckily no one else was around me and i came to a stop in the middle of the road.
Definitely the most irresponsible thing i've ever done in my life, another 2 seconds and i'd probably be dead. I never thought i'd be so tired to fall asleep driving. . . i learned the hard way. be careful out there

Happened exactly like this video i saw on youtube YouTube - Ferrari 348 Accident

eliteJAE · Jul 15, 2008

holy crap man, glad you're ok

been there one too many times, i never realized how far we travel even with just 1 or 2 seconds of inactivity

03TrueBlue · Jul 15, 2008

Glad your still here. Been there done that. Did that in Maine with my 72 Camaro at 3:00am woke up in the wrong lane twice then yelled at everyone in the car to keep me awake. I would rather drive drunk the that tired, I know that sounds bad but at least I would be awake and really trying to stay on the road. I have that problem coming home from work sometimes after a long day and I shake my head to wake up but its still hard not to lose focus. the pros did a study and said that a drowsy driver is worse then a drunk driver, wonder when those tickets will be issued.

Mustang5L5 · Jul 15, 2008

I was with a buddy driving home at 3AM int he pouring rain after doing a clutch install on an '03 Cobra.

He dozed off at 70MPH and we started drifting into the breakdown lane. I grabbed the wheel and he woke up and yanked it back and put us in a spin...then he fell asleep again.

About a mile later we stopped spinning in the grass median of the highway and he woke up and asked 'What happened?"

Luckily we just drove out of the mud and continued on fine.

mustang50v8 · Jul 15, 2008

good thing you are ok.

i give you mad props to come on here and tell us what you did. there will be people who will flame you and call you irresponsible but i commend you for admitting it. it is a good wake up call (lol, sorry i had to do it) for the rest of us. on only confirms that it can happen to anybody.

i know i have driven when i have had too much to drink and i have driven when i catch myself doing the head bob thing. i am in absolutely no way proud of doing either of them at all. but 03trublue nailed it right on the head....when i had to much to drink i was able to concentrate and control my driving (ok so i wasnt really drunk but maybe 1 or 2 too many drinks) but when i was tired i couldnt control wanting to sleep.

be safe out there guys

BurningRubber · Jul 15, 2008

I have also nearly fallen asleep driving.

I fought sleep off for a while, blasting music and moving around in my seat alot.

Next thing I know my head bobbed once or twice, and I woke up when I started drifting off of the road, and the vehicle starting pulling into a rut.

I stopped and took a 15 minute nap in a parking lot, and continued on my way just fine. I literally shut down though, I couldnt keep my self up... scared the crap out of me.

Mossberg · Jul 15, 2008

I've been there more than a few times. I try to slap myself, stick my head out the window, blast music while singing along. If you are tired enough, the sleep will win every time no matter what on a long trip. It's better to just pull over I've found.

'13_ImpactBlue_GT · Jul 16, 2008

03TrueBlue said:
Glad your still here. Been there done that. Did that in Maine with my 72 Camaro at 3:00am woke up in the wrong lane twice then yelled at everyone in the car to keep me awake. I would rather drive drunk the that tired, I know that sounds bad but at least I would be awake and really trying to stay on the road. I have that problem coming home from work sometimes after a long day and I shake my head to wake up but its still hard not to lose focus. the pros did a study and said that a drowsy driver is worse then a drunk driver, wonder when those tickets will be issued.

When I was driving for a living, they told us to roll the windows down to get some cold, fresh, air.............., it didnt work for me. Im glad the OP is ok and his Pony is ok as well.

1badsilver99 · Jul 16, 2008

yea i had a similar accident in my old 96 gt, i was goin down the road at about 4a.m., me and my friend just got back from the beach and i dropped him off, but anyways i was goin down the road about 5 minutes from being home and was tierd as ****, i started heasd bobbing goin around a decently sharp right turn, next thing i know my head slammed up against the car and i was sliding in a corn field. SCARY!!!, the old stang kept herself together though, i went back the next day to look at where it happened and it was a very large ditch. Lets just say within a month i had lotws of suspension problems but yea guys be safe i hope this never happens to anyone.

Fell asleep in the saddle! wtf

Burtonsnow157

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