thanks guys, great posts and reminders and cautionary stories.

yesterday here in central florida we had heavy rain for about 18 hours (!). between the rain, flooded roads, christmas shopping traffic, people going to and from christmas lunches and parties, and general distraction, there were some real 'winners' on the road. i saw several (after) accidents with flashing lights, emergency vehicles, etc.

besides tiredness and intoxication, of course the other big factor these days is distracted driving, which usually means someone looking at their phone while driving. at least once a day when i'm out i'll see someone driving 20mph BELOW the speed limit, in the left lane, with no one in front of them. immediately i know it's someone on their phone. i pull into the right lane (yeah i know, but i can't wait all day), as i go past i'll take a quick look and sure enough, on the phone...

now slow driving is not a huge menace compared to someone actually trying to type a text or read an 'important' email while driving and drifting all over the place. that's truly dangerous.

but anyway, off topic here... we lost Matt this year, getting a call that Sunday morning (Jan 28th, 2018), and so every Sunday is a reminder. every miami dolphins game is a reminder since he was an avid fan. every mention of the musician drake is a reminder because he was a huge fan. every mention of theme parks is a reminder because he worked a few years at universal in orlando... and on and on... the drake album title says it all... "nothing was the same"

 

First time seeing this thread. Condolences and I agree we should all be careful. I took risks many times driving sleepy and have pulled over just to sleep on some occasions. These days If I know I will be out late I take Uber no need to worry about falling asleep, parking, drinking etc...

 

I hope you and your girlfriend are hanging in there. My thoughts are with you.

Great advice. In fact, we just got home from being away for the weekend and I stopped with an hour left to go and let my wife drive because I could feel myself getting tired.

 

 

this is actually quite a timely bump, considering my friend just managed to drive into a guardrail after dozing off for a moment at like 5 am on his way back from driving on the beach




he's fine (physically at least), nobody got hurt, yada yada, he got that car for $500, and he has like 5 other cars so he'll be fine

i'm just happy i wasn't there lol

 

just a reminder all, today marks 4 years since we got a call that my gf's son died in the night from a car crash on an interstate (no skidmarks, etc., looks highly likely he just fell asleep). on feb 9th he would have been 28.

obviously not a unique tragedy, but just a reminder that if ANYONE feels sleepy while driving, they should stop right away, have a nap, get a coffee, take a walk, before resuming.

stay safe all. an accident could bring your demise and grief to your loved ones forever.

 

So sorry for your loss; just terrible.

But remember stories like this one when griping about all the beeping of active safety systems in cars, and pontificating that active safety systems "make people bad drivers" -- active safety systems may save your life, or the life of a loved one. Isn't the annoying beeping worth it?

 

How is she doing Paul?

 

Sorry to hear. Hopefully, they can use these autonomous tech to mitigate sleeping deaths. It can happen to anyone.

 

Sorry for your loss also, Bitkahuna.

I totally agree and wanted to type this also

Not only in a sleeping situation but also in a medical condition as well.

In this situation, the lane departure warning should beep, then the lane assist keep brings the car back in and the auto stop/brake should kick in to slow the car down.
I tried this in my car to see how it works (only on a straight road though) and it did the job.

(edit: didn't see bit's post 31 above explaining the system)

 

i agree completely. he was driving a new corolla at the time, and i'm not sure if it had lane keep assist or warning, maybe it did and maybe it was turned off, or maybe the warning didn't wake him up, we'll never know, but yes, lane keep assist for example, would likely have brought him around the curve he went off, although maybe it would have disengaged if his hands weren't on the wheel. but yes, i'm all for advanced safety systems!!!!! they do save lives.

thanks for asking... between christmas, today, the superbowl and his birthday all being so close, it's a difficult time but lots of love and support from many does help, and we CERTAINLY know that we're far from alone given just how most everyone loses someone close to them at some point, but obviously losing your child is a special loss - parents just don't expect to outlive their kids. but she's a strong person, obviously sad moments, but we know we must keep going and try to be as happy as matt would have wanted her to be.

thanks and agreed.

thanks. and yes, current safety systems are not foolproof or all encompassing, but it seems we shouldn't be far from a car detecting the driver is asleep, ill (or dead!) and it could safely bring the car to a stop with flashers going.

 

I think Mercedes has a system that will sense a lack of driver-input to the steering after a while, interpret that as dozing off.....and set off some alarms or reactions. Mercedes and Volvo have often been at the forefront of safety-advances.

 

I think Toyota Teamate will stop the car if there is a lack of driver attention. Same with Honda and their set up

 

Yes, but that system is more like Cadillac Super Cruise, which is a semi-autonomous driving system, rather than features which are more of active safety features.

 

Really hard time of year, with it all being so close...I can't imagine losing a child...

Let her know your car buddies are thinking of her, and you.