DWT, Driving While Tired. It’s not an offense that we can be prosecuted for like driving while intoxicated, but it’s very similar in it’s effects. If you drive when you are over-tired, it slows your reaction time in case of emergencies. You can start to doze off, and even swerve in and out of traffic, similar to a person who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This creates an extremely dangerous situation for you and everyone else on the road. Since nobody wants to be the cause of a severe traffic accident, it is best to stay off the road when you are overly tired. Driving when you are tired creates problems for you and everyone on the road with you. At best, you are going to be slower reacting to emergency vehicles and situations. At worst, you can cause injurious traffic accidents, involving yourself or others. Either way, it’s not a pleasant situation. Here are just a couple of examples of things that have happened because people have fallen asleep behind the wheel of a car. All of these situations have really happened, and demonstrate all from the best case scenario to to worst. In the first situation, we have a man who was out late at night, while his wife and children were home waiting for him. He was late, but his wife wasn’t too worried as he was late often. This night, however, he was even later than usual, and she was starting to worry about him. Upon his arrival home, she found out that on his way home, he had fallen asleep behind the wheel and had to take a sobriety test because of it. At least he was ok, and nobody had gotten hurt. In the second situation, there was a woman on her way to work. She had not gotten nearly enough sleep the previous night. She fell asleep only to be awakened moments later by the tires scraping against the center divider on the freeway. Scared awake, she finishes her drive to work, and has to change to the spare tire because the rim of the tire that was on the car is so mangled that she can’t drive on it properly. She was ok, and because the freeway was nearly empty that day, nobody got hurt, again. The third story does not have such a happy ending. This is about a young man with a promising future. He was a senior in high school, very good-looking, and very popular. He was a wonderful person with a good heart. He was driving home one night from seeing some friends who lived about 30 miles away. He also fell asleep behind the wheel. His car drove off a steep cliff, and he did not survive the accident. This represents close to the worst that can happen if you are driving when you are too tired to drive. He did not take anyone with him, thank goodness, but it’s bad enough that the world had to lose even one person. If you are too tired to drive, find a way that you don’t have to. Have an energy drink if that will help you. Otherwise, grab a quick catnap in your car or wherever you are to get enough energy to get home safely. You will be safer, as will everybody else on the road. Category:Home › Home • Will higher gasoline prices mean lower sales for new cars? — part 2 • Will higher gasoline prices mean lower sales for new cars? — part 1 • Should the crew of the Sea Shepherd board whaling ships? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 13 • Grandparents: Can blogging chronicle your genealogy? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 12 • Are teachers unions the cause of public school problems today? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 11