In this review, I plan on writing about Rideshare drivers falling asleep behind the wheel and how to prevent this from happening to you! We all work or have some form of income that we have to work for every day to maintain our daily lifestyles right? Some people work more than others while some others work a little bit less. Either way from time to time, we all find ourselves a little tired which at times can be understandable. You may have a full-time job where it involves a bunch of physical labor or you have two or three jobs that causes you to only get 2-4 hours of sleep per night like myself! Now I’m not trying to scare my passengers when I say what I’m about to say.. But damn near every night I find myself slightly drifting off behind the wheel, due to all the physical labor and me not getting enough sleep.
Sometimes I find myself slightly drifting off or falling asleep behind the wheel due to the way that I’m driving and/or the circumstances that I’m normally driving my passengers around in. I have a very bad habit of relaxing, taking my time and cruising my passengers to their drop off destinations without worrying about rushing or driving fast. This in itself puts me to sleep sometimes. Then on top of that, it’s 3am in the morning and peaceful as hell. When it’s this early in the morning, there tends to be less distractions and things happening when it comes to everything that normally takes place on the road, which also aids me in falling asleep behind the wheel. But I do have a few procedures that I follow when I’m feeling groggy behind the wheel, which I plan on covering within this short review!
At #1RideShareDoc, my main goal here lies in me sharing my personal story story and my 6 and a 1/2 years of experiences that all relate to this crazy, complex Rideshare industry. Please allow my experiences to become your crystal ball to what you may also experience if you happen to go through some of the same things that I’ve had to go through as a Rideshare driver. Let’s relate and share these experiences so we can all learn and grow strong together. Let’s talk about the things that these Rideshare companies aren’t talking about. Rideshare companies like Uber, Lyft, Via and Sidecar just to name a few! Please allow me to prepare you not only for what’s going to be ahead of you, but for what’s also going to be behind you as well. Shall we begin!!
This review will be divided into the following sections, for better absorption and clearer understanding purposes:
Introduction
How Many Hours Of Sleep are you supposed to get per 24 hour Time Period?
What Are Some Benefits Of Getting The Proper Amount Of Rest?
What Are Some Ways For A Rideshare Driver To Stay Awake Behind The Wheel?
What Should A Rideshare Driver Do When They Can’t Seem To Wake Themselves Up While Driving?
What Should A Passenger Do When They Noticed Their Driver Falling Asleep Behind The Wheel?
Can A Rideshare Driver Get In Trouble For Falling Asleep Behind The Wheel?
My Professional Conclusion
How Many Hours Of Sleep are you supposed to get per 24 hour Time Period?
Getting plenty of rest is essential to every living creature’s health, including animals. That being said, the average adult male or female needs between 7 and 10 hours of sleep per 24 hour time period for their regular bodily functions to function properly. As far as pregnant women are concerned, when they’re in their first 3 months of pregnancy they’ll need an extra 2-4 hours on top of the regular 7-10. Folks who are 65 years of age and older may also fall into the same bracket as a pregnant woman when it boils down to the amount of sleep required for the body to function properly. So always make sure you’re getting at least 7 hours of sleep per 24 hour interval. Sleeping is that important!
What Are Some Benefits To Getting The Proper Amount Of Rest?
There are actually quite a few benefits to a Rideshare driver getting good rest and they include:
1.) More Physical Energy And Producing Abilities: Drivers who get all of their rest tend to have more energy, be more efficient and present even more alertness when it comes to assessing and handling your regular everyday responsibilities.
2.) Less Stressed Out: Getting plenty of rest on a daily basis has the ability of lowering cortisol levels in the body, while also promoting relaxation.
3.) Stronger Mental Health And A Happier Mood: Getting a good nights rest can actually help control and maintain the way a driver or person feels. Getting a good night’s rest can also help lower your risk of developing mood disorders as you get older!
4.) Chronic Diseases: Getting a good night’s rest can also lower a Rideshare driver’s risk of contracting a chronic disease such as high blood pressure or diabetes. Getting a good night’s rest also contributes to a drivers heart health!
5.) Better Thinking Skills: Getting a good night’s rest can also improve a driver’s problem solving abilities, creative abilities, focus abilities and the ability to memorize things more efficiently!
6.) Promotes Physical Health: Getting all of your hours of rest can actually aid in weight loss, strengthening the immune system and supporting a drivers health overall!
7.) Quicker Bodily Recuperation: Getting adequate sleep contributes to the enhancement of your immune system, which in turn accelerates tissue and muscle recovery.
Now there are plenty of ways for a Rideshare driver or any driver for that matter to stay awake behind the wheel while doing lots of heavy driving on the road. It just depends on the driver and that drivers needs for waking back up since all of us are built different. Some motorist who are sleepy wake up easily, while some others can seem like they’re slipping into a coma or a drunken stupor lol. It also depends on how sleepy an individual is and the driving conditions because sometimes the driving conditions alone can help a driver stay awake or vice versa. Or at least for me it can. So without further ado, I would like to present a few ways for a professional Rideshare driver to stay awake behind the wheel might include:
1.) Having A Conversation With The Passengers: Sometimes something as simple as having a conversation with one of my passengers can actually help keep me awake, alert and more importantly alive lol. This actually is the method that works best for me when it comes to keeping myself awake. Especially while driving graveyard hours and especially if it’s a really good conversation! As a matter of fact, anything that gives my mind something extra to focus on besides the dark roads has the possibility of helping me stay awake. It’s all about keeping my mind busy on not just the road ahead of me, but at least one other thing as well.
Or at least that’s how my mind works! But if I’m really sleepy and none of my passengers are trying to have a decent early morning conversation, I’ll have to phone one of my family members or best friends. Either way I’m refusing to fall asleep behind the wheel by any means necessary. Try this out for yourself when you’re feeling a little tired behind the wheel and see if this works for you!
2.) Pinching Yourself Hard: When I’m feeling sleepy behind the wheel while driving my graveyard shift, I sometimes have to pinch myself hard either on my thigh, my arm, stomach, face or wherever else I can think of to help keep myself awake. Especially when I have passengers in my car. If it wasn’t for the passengers being in my vehicle at the time of me dozing off, I would have been doing a little more than pinching to keep myself awake which I’ll cover with my next suggestion.
3.) Slapping Yourself A Little: You read that right, slap yourself lol! When pinching yourself doesn’t work anymore, it’s time to do some slapping lol! And notice how I said, “slapping yourself a little” lol! Don’t start beating the crap out of yourself when you start feeling sleepy. Surely not while your passengers are sitting right behind you either! This slapping should be strictly saved for when your passengers exit your vehicle. Once the passengers are out of your vehicle, simply take your hand and apply a little slapping power to that sleepy face of yours lol. Maybe even a few slaps from different angles. If this doesn’t wake you up, then maybe you should play it safe and go home early. But you won’t know until you try lol!
3.) Walk Around/Stretching: Something else that I do which works pretty well for myself is walking around and stretching my body out a little. And of course this also cannot be done while the passengers are in your vehicle (unless they have a stop!). Instead you have to wait until directly after you’re finished dropping the passengers off to get your short walk and yoga stretch on. So next time you’re feeling a little drowsy behind the wheel, try taking a short walk around your car a few times and/or stretching your limbs out a little after dropping your passenger off and see if this works for you!
4.) Eat A Snack: This is yet another option that I enjoy exercising (which is pretty simple) when I’m feeling sleepy or drowsy behind the wheel. As a matter of fact, I stock up on small snacks like popcorn, raisins chips, vanilla wafers, cookies, crackers, nutri-grain bars, applesauce cups and more specifically so I can munch as much as I need to while I drive without being too distracted. I’m only distracted enough to keep me awake. Find your favorite snacks and see if this works for you too!
5.) Drink Some Fluids: Drinking smoothies, Red Bulls, Gatorade or Powerade is another way I go about maintaining my awareness behind the wheel when I’m feeling a little drowsy. I used to drink coffee until I realized it was darkening my teeth. That being said, choose what liquid works best for you when referring to keeping you awake on the road. Again, you won’t know until you tryit out for yourself!
6.) Play Some Music: Now for this to work would depend on the type of music you’re listening to because some music puts you to sleep regardless of how loud or how low you play it. It would also depend on the person listening to the music because some people sleep easier with music playing in the background and some people don’t. I like choosing music that has an upbeat to it like rap or hip hop music. Choosing an R&B song is a sure enough way for me to go to sleep. Especially if it’s a slow love song! So choose a nice upbeat track and see if this works for you as well.
If you’ve tried all the options I’ve listed when referring to some ways of staying awake behind the wheel and nothing seems to be working for you, then my biggest suggestion that I would give anyone including myself would be to simply go home. Either that or if you really need the money, you could pull over to the side of the road and take a 30 minute nap! To do this I would simply pull over to the side of the road of course, Bluetooth my phone to my vehicle and set an alarm to go off in about 30 minutes to an hour. You want to connect your phone to your vehicle so you’re alarm can have more volume for waking up purposes of course. Especially if you’re a heavy deep sleeper!
What Should A Passenger Do When They Noticed Their Driver Falling Asleep Behind The Wheel?
If you’re a passenger riding with an Uber or Lyft driver and you happen to notice them drifting from left to right, unexpectedly breaking or slowing down, almost running traffic signs and/or signals or seeming like they’re nodding out I’m closing their eyes a lot, immediately ask the driver to end the ride and reach out to the Rideshare company. And if you really feel like the driver is unsafe due to them seeming very sleepy or out of it, then you should take it a step further and reach out to law enforcement officers. Don’t worry about the problems this might cause for the driver. This is your life we’re talking about here and there’s!
Of course a Rideshare driver can get in trouble for falling asleep behind the wheel. Any driver for that matter! That being said, if a driver happens to get reported (in which they should!) to Uber or Lyft for falling asleep behind the wheel, that driver actually could stand the chance of being permanently deactivated. And that’s the least of a driver’s worries if this were to take place because if the police were to pull you over for falling asleep behind a wheel, you could receive a ticket, go to jail or worse!
My Professional Conclusion
In conclusion I would like to say that it’s always a good idea for every professional Rideshare driver to get plenty of rest when possible before hitting the road and deciding to pick up your first passenger. As a matter of fact, every Rideshare driver should already have in their game plan a specific time frame specifically designated for sleeping. This time frame should consist of at least 7 straight hours of knock out time! Every Rideshare driver should also understand that when you’re not getting the right amount of sleep, the benefits listed above within this review could turn into the complete opposite, which is what you don’t want to happen.
When this happens, accidents follow and you’d be lucky if an accident takes place when a passenger isn’t in your vehicle! All it takes is one accident with a passenger in your vehicle and there goes your Rideshare driving career. These companies love deactivating drivers especially what it involves protecting their precious livestock! Trust me I know lol! But what if a passenger was in your car at the time of an accident due to you not getting enough sleep? Allow that last statement to sink in and I’ll leave you with that..
Now that we’re nearing the end of another great review, would you guys happen to have anything to say or add when it comes to Rideshare drivers falling asleep behind the wheel? Do you have any extra advice concerning getting a good night’s rest that you’d like to share? Do you disagree with something that I said concerning why it’s important for all Rideshare drivers to get a good night’s rest? Well whether you do or don’t agree, I would love to hear your feedback on this whole subject matter. Please feel free to leave those thoughts, comments and concerns at the bottom of this review and I will be sure to respond back to you promptly!
If you liked what you’ve just read, please feel free to Subscribe to my future post! Just be sure to enter a valid email address. Every time I make a post, you’ll receive an instant notification. Check your spam folder if you didn’t receive a confirmation email. If you’re looking for a flexible lifestyle and not keen on chauffeuring strangers around in your car, consider starting a home-based business instead! If you’re interested in the idea, don’t hesitate to read my review on Wealthy Affiliate. Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see you on my next review!
