Falling Asleep at the Wheel

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Cowboy 2.0

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This is one of my buddies mega cab dually trophy truck. They were headed to a roping after getting very little sleep. Crusie control set at 65 when he fell asleep and they left the road. They hit an oak tree with a glancing blow taking the top off the trailer, flipping it and killing the 3 horses inside. Both him and his partner walked away.

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I'm glad your buddies are OK. I fell asleep at the wheel in the middle of the afternoon about 17 years ago. I was driving a nissan truck. When I woke up we were in the ditch going about 60 mph. My buddy had reached over and straightened us out right before we hit a dirt road that intersected the highway. That launched us into a dukes of hazard type stunt straight into the air. Truck landed on the drivers side bumper and bounced. Then landed on the back bumper and rolled over up side down. We both had our seat belts on. I don't think I had a single scratch on me till I had to unbuckle and crawl out through the glass. I had to get out the passenger side window. The drivers side was a little small. One weird thing was the back window had popped out during the wreck and was in the ditch. It didn't have a crack in it.

Thats just one of the times I almost killed myself. Anyhow I did have a point. Its not the type of mistake you make twice.

Walt
 
Thought I had the pic in there. Oh well, do now. It was a bad deal. They lost about $25,000 in horses alone.
 
Never never never set the cruise control when tired or at night.
I knew a couple that were heading home with their granddaughter in the front seat. The guy fell asleep with the cruise control set, left the road and hit a steel culvert. Granddaughter was killed and his wife in the back lost part of her arm.

So they are lucky to be alive.
 
I luv herfrds":1x9eenh3 said:
Never never never set the cruise control when tired or at night.
I knew a couple that were heading home with their granddaughter in the front seat. The guy fell asleep with the cruise control set, left the road and hit a steel culvert. Granddaughter was killed and his wife in the back lost part of her arm.

So they are lucky to be alive.
Good advice.
 
How many times have I been on the road too tired to drive ? I can tell you far too many. When I do that am I any better than the person on the road drunk?

Larry
 
Glad to hear your friends are OK..Sad about the horses, but human life should come first.
Looking back I can remember driving up to my daughters feeling tired, nearly falling asleep, and that was the last time I drove a long way after a long day at work. Will only drive up there now in the daytime wide awake. I would say the answer to your question Larry no you are no better when tired as to when drunk.
Thankfully we don't have many cars here that have cruise control, not sure if I would like it.
 
larryshoat":3mo3ebio said:
How many times have I been on the road too tired to drive ? I can tell you far too many. When I do that am I any better than the person on the road drunk?

Larry

Same here. I've woke up running 65 mph in the ditch before. And I do think I would rather be on the road with a drunk than a sleepy driver.
 
i did it. fell asleep woke up hit the dicth going about 65 went through a fence flipped twice and hit a pole. i was in a toyota celica and i only got minor cuts and scrapes. thank god for seat belts!

i'm glad your friends were ok and sorry to hear about their horses.
 
I don't know the details, but I hear two young men were in a crash this weekend. One is in the hospital and the other the funeral home.
 
1982vett":2h3ddxx8 said:
I don't know the details, but I hear two young men were in a crash this weekend. One is in the hospital and the other the funeral home.

It seems like around here at least two or three are killed in bad wrecks every year around this time. As far back as I can remember too. Its tragic to say the least.
 
Larry I would call 911 and report either one because they are both dangerous.

Something my Dad taught me. If you head bob once start looking for a place to pull off and get some sleep. I have done that several times. If I have someone with me and they are not tired,we switch places and I close my eyes and rest. Done that a couple of times too.
 
I luv herfrds":2jaxb3d5 said:
Never never never set the cruise control when tired or at night.
I knew a couple that were heading home with their granddaughter in the front seat. The guy fell asleep with the cruise control set, left the road and hit a steel culvert. Granddaughter was killed and his wife in the back lost part of her arm.

So they are lucky to be alive.

I never set cruise control when pulling a trailer either. Just a habit I guess.
 
man those boys had GOD watching over them ,look like nothing could walk away from that. thats bad about the horse's a good rope horse hard too replace
 
I luv herfrds":3q6rzmax said:
Larry I would call 911 and report either one because they are both dangerous.

Something my Dad taught me. If you head bob once start looking for a place to pull off and get some sleep. I have done that several times. If I have someone with me and they are not tired,we switch places and I close my eyes and rest. Done that a couple of times too.

If you pull off the road and go to sleep, you need to remove the keys from the ignition. In our part of GA, if and when the law finds you asleep with the keys in the ignition, they're going to write you up for a d.u.i.

They assume you are sleeping it off.
 
I have nodded off going down I-20 in Arkansas. Not a good place with so many trucks around. Was coming back from Michigan and the ex and I were driving straight back. It' about a 24 hour trip or more. We did pull over at a rest stop. I know you aren't supposed to do that but we were not alone there. Not the best place to sleep. I think I was covered with dew when I woke up.
 
grannysoo":24nzw1r7 said:
I luv herfrds":24nzw1r7 said:
Larry I would call 911 and report either one because they are both dangerous.

Something my Dad taught me. If you head bob once start looking for a place to pull off and get some sleep. I have done that several times. If I have someone with me and they are not tired,we switch places and I close my eyes and rest. Done that a couple of times too.

If you pull off the road and go to sleep, you need to remove the keys from the ignition. In our part of GA, if and when the law finds you asleep with the keys in the ignition, they're going to write you up for a d.u.i.

They assume you are sleeping it off.

Had that happen to a friend last month. He ws lucky as all they charged him with was PI.
 
I saw on TV once, a study that was being done on tired vs drunk driving. They deprived one person of sleep, and another they gradually got more intoxicated, and had them driving in a simulator. Like a video game pretty much. The results: The drunk was going off the road earlier into the experiment, but the one without sleep was worse off in the end. The drunk was always awake and trying to control the car, keeping it relatively close to the pavement. However, once the "head bobs" started in the tired person it got bad for them, when the eyes closed they completely quit steering the car. Conclusion of the experiment: Both are dangerous and deadly.

I, too, have pulled over on multiple occassions to get a bit of rest. Its amazing how much just 10 or 15 minutes of sleep will help when driving.

Ryan
 

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