No-Doz, The Driver's Friend.

[JohnK]

I do lots of things tired. Driving isn't one of them. I try to limit my trips to ~100kms. Anything more and my eyes are sore and I am tired.

Don't quite understand why you would need to drive over 10 hours in one stretch at those sorts of speeds. Break the trip up and spend a night in a hotel.

 

[Steady]

Not comment on No-Doz but many many people drive 6, 8, 10+ hours in a day.

QLD was a popular holiday destination as a kid - we caught the ferry from Tas to Vic then drive north for 2 days and stayed with family. We would not have had any QLD holidays otherwise. When I lived in Mt Isa it was common to drive to Townsville or the Gulf for the weekend, and I have driven MEL-ADL-MEL a number of times as well.

 

[snabbu]

I hope you don't make the drive up to Sydney from Melbourne often Renato1, or visit here and hire a car. If you do please let me know and I'll stay off the roads.

 

[juddles]

....My wife was convinced we were going to die, and I'm convinced we probably would have if not for my magic pills.
Regards,
Renato

It is, IMHO, insanity to do a 10hr high-speed drive in a foreign country where you are so scared of the traffic that you feel the need to use a drug. That is pitiful and unjustifiable. You endangered your wife, all other road users, and yourself.

 

[dandandandan]

I've used No-Doz here and there when I used to be in a touring band but even then, the length of each stint behind the wheel for each of us was like 4-5 hours max. I'm not a fan of No-Doz, energy drinks etc. Espresso for me is more of a pleasure than a stimulant so that does nothing for me on travels.
But if it works for you and is safe then go for it.

 

[andye]

No-doz are essentially caffeine; the fact that the active ingredient comes in a pill rather than in hot water shouldn't really be relevant.

I agree with people that if you are using the equivalent of over 6 cups of coffee to make a journey safely, you should be replanning your trip (and IMO if you need one cup of coffee to make a trip safely, you should replan too)

 

[junbugging]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNPTlT8HXjk

If you're driving that far while tired, you're doing it wrong.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Uhhmm - don't the results of the actual Case Study of REAL drivers support TOTALLY what I wrote in my Original Post?


The article you cite is attacking the results of the Case Study without using any actual results of its own, and doing a lot of hypothesising and making unsupported assertions and assumptions to do so (e.g. that it wasn't the caffeine that reduced the accidents, but the increased number of toilet breaks from taking the caffeine (so, wasn't it still the caffeine that caused the reduction in accidents?)). It has no empirical data of its own to disprove the Case Study. It even proposes how someone else can go away and spend a fortune doing a case study that it would approve of, but is unwilling to do itself!


The article's conclusion is pretty much a mirror image of what the responses have been like here.
1a.... I provide a summary of my positive experience driving long distance overseas on vacation with caffeine.
1b.... The Case Study provides a summary of the positive experiences of truck drivers driving long distances in Australia with caffeine.


2a.... Numerous responders are highly skeptical and attack my Original Post based solely on speculation and unsupported assertions against taking caffeine pills.
2b.... The article is highly skeptical and attacks the case study based mainly on hypothesizing and speculative assertions, without supplying any actual evidence of its own.


To my mind, if people are too cheap to spend $5 on the tablets at Woolworths (even just to have them there as a backup), and leave themselves open to killing or maiming themselves and their families, well, that's their business. But I think it unfair to the other drivers that they may kill or maim in the process.

Also, one's overseas trip may not be as pleasurable as it could have been if one spends it hospitalized.
Regards,
Renato

No the study does not support what you wrote in your post and the discussion on the article explains why.

You have written of your experiences driving whilst using caffeine.
Others (myself included) would not advise or advocate doing this.
This does not mean that I wont spend money or that I'm putting others at risk. Quite the opposite in fact.
As I stated previously I will drive properly rested and take adequate breaks.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

i'd prefer to use modavigil. get the alertness without the stimulant affects.

 

[yohy?!]

i hope youre drinking plenty of water whilst you drive or youre liable to end up with kidney, bladder or liver troubles from this stimulant use!

 

[blackcat20]

This thread is incredibly scary. I've driven once while tired to the point of almost falling asleep and it is not an experience I will ever repeat. To suggest people drug themselves up to keep on going is incredibly irresponsible.

 

[straitman]

This thread is incredibly scary. I've driven once while tired to the point of almost falling asleep and it is not an experience I will ever repeat. To suggest people drug themselves up to keep on going is incredibly irresponsible.

I have been trying for a while to come up with a response and have to stay I'm speechless.

Drugged up or otherwise, if you are tired then you are tired and if tired to the degree being discussed then you are dangerous on the roads. There have been many studies with published results that link degree of fatigue with a percentage of intoxication and MOST people these days won't/don't drink & drive.

 

[Julesmac]

Yikes! Bags I not sharing the road or a car with you Renato! Sorry but driving those distances and at high speeds for extended periods simply cannot be safe. Maybe talk to a highway cop or ambos who have to scrape people off bitumen after high speed crashes. You know those ads - 'speed kills' '& ' fatigue kills'. They are based on fact. MrMac & I drove to Sydney last month in one go - not our intention when we set off actually just the way it panned out. the Hume is a lovely safe road now; minimal traffic and we had plenty of breaks. In a big safe car - Benz 500 - which is very easy to drive & ate up the ks. However we were both buggered by the time we got there, despite rest stops and swapping driving. We were at our physical limit and no way could that have been reduced by popping a pill.

 

[Pushka]

This thread is incredibly scary. I've driven once while tired to the point of almost falling asleep and it is not an experience I will ever repeat. To suggest people drug themselves up to keep on going is incredibly irresponsible.

I had a microsleep once and I will never ever ever do this again. I ignored the signs. And this was only for a very short trip. I was tired before I started, and almost pulled over for a 15 minute nap - which I can do when I am this tired and it really works. However the area I was going to pull over into was very busy and so I thought I would be fine. I was very very lucky the road was deserted when it happened.

I remember my father falling asleep at the wheel as a solo driver. It was on a family trip going from Adelaide to country Victoria. I was in the passenger seat next to him - I was 15 and not feeling well so as a passenger I went to sleep. Next thing we had smashed into the left side barrier wall. We could have been killed - me most certainly. And to this day if I am a passenger next to the driver I never ever go to sleep when they are driving.

It only takes a split second for a lifetime of ruin.

 

[Conrad_S]

This is one of the reasons I like to travel by train. You never know who is on the roads.

 

[dandandandan]

And to this day if I am a passenger next to the driver I never ever go to sleep when they are driving.

On road trips that I've been a part of, it's always been a rule that the front seat passenger must keep the driver occupied no matter what. So general talks, jokes, d&m's, games, whatever will keep the driver awake and alert.

 

[Renato1]

A long, long, time ago you could buy Ephedrine (30, 60, 90mg) OTC.
Whilst those drugs certainly kept you awake I'm glad they were removed from sale.
I met quite a few zombies during that time in my line of work.

Yes, people developed bad side effects from Ephedrine.
I actually took it for a week or so once when i had an infection cough that I couldn't shake off for a month. After trying all the regular stuff and it failed, the Doctor gave me some pills with Methadone and Ephidrine, the Methadone stopped the cough instantly and the Ephedrine counteracted the Methadone and kept me awake. It wasn't a pleasant experience.
Cheers,
Renato

And you could buy pseudoephedrine - sudafed - in Coles. Which for those who have sinus issues was helpful. Now you have to be treated like a druggie just to get medications that actually work for health issues.

Yes, I used to take one of those a day because the minute I walked into my then office, my nose would block up completely. Anyhow, one day, the Sudafed which had never caused me a problem, suddenly sent my blood pressure up to over 150, and that was the end of that. Tried it again a week later, same result. So I switched to the German nasal spray called Spraytish, which the job Sudafed used to do.

Also, pseudoephedrine used to be the main component of appetite-suppression pills. I wonder what they use nowadays?
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Buzzard]

This is one of the reasons I like to travel by train. You never know who is on the roads.

Hopefully not a drugged up driver that fails to stop at a rail crossing as a train is approaching.

 

[russ]

No-Doz prevents micro-sleeps on me.
I don't need a study to show that it prevents micro-sleeps in me, as I already know it.

How do you know? Maybe it only stops 99% of micro-sleeps for you. You and your family will only find out too late.

 

[Happy Dude]

Ah-a! So you're the reason why tax dollars must go towards ad campaigns about not littering, speeding, committing domestic violence (anyone recall those unbelievable "Don't rape" ads I saw in the UK), wearing a seatbelt for chrissakes, and, on-topic, driving while tired. When I see these ads I always wonder "Who the hell is stupid enough to need to be told not to do these things?"

Thanks for putting me out of my misery, much appreciated. If you could be so good to post details of your next driving holiday, I'd be much obliged too.

On the plus side, must be exciting knowing that Christmas is just a few sleeps away, eh?