Travel Tip #58 - Don't Drive if You are Sleepy

     A number of years ago, I was driving out to a dry lake bed with some friends for a camp out. It was hot and I was getting a bit drowsy. I saw a rest area coming up and decided to stop and stretch my legs. I then saw something that woke me up fast. An SUV rolled over right near the rest stop area. I immediately pulled over as did the other car I was travelling with. Being first on the scene, we jumped out and assessed the situation. The body of a ten-year old girl was lying to the side of the road. One of my friends checked her vitals. She was bleeding from the mouth and didn't have a pulse. I ran up to the SUV and found a man and his son strapped in their seats hanging upside-down. The son was able to get out of his seat belt and climb out the window. Meanwhile, the father frantically asked about his daughter, and I answered his questions honestly but withheld my personal assessment of the situation since I was unsure of her exact status. Meanwhile, other cars were pulling off and began helping where they could. I went back to check on the girl’s status while talking to 911 and reported that someone was performing CPR. When I was done, the man had me call his wife, which I did. She was even more frantic than her husband, and I tried to both prepare her for what was ahead and alleviate her concerns to the best of my ability. It was one of the hardest phone calls of my life. While I was talking to her, the paramedics arrived and I told her which hospital they were headed to. Meanwhile, with the help of new arrivals, we were able to extricate the man from his vehicle. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.

     While I don't like to dwell on this event, there are times that it is thrust into the forefront of my mind. There are two major lessons I took away from the encounter: 1) Never drive if you are sleepy! The man admitted that he had fallen asleep behind the wheel. If you are drowsy, pull over right away and wait until you are no longer sleepy before driving again. You may be in a hurry or don't want to delay getting home, but it isn't worth it! If you drive while sleepy, you might not make it home at all. 2) Always wear your seat belt! The two people who were buckled in escaped with only minor injuries. The one who wasn't probably died as a result of her injuries. It might be inconvenient to put on your seat belt every time you get into a car, but it could be the difference between life and death - or at least severe injury. So don't risk it.