• Question: If a drunk person and a tired person were driving who would you say would crash first??????????????????????????? :) ;)

    Asked by winnie13 to Damien, Rachael, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 20 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rachael Ward

      Rachael Ward answered on 20 Jun 2011:


      Hi @winnie13

      I’m not sure who would crash first but I definitely think both should be avoided!

      Drink driving is obviously really dangerous but driving when youre too tired to concentrate can be too. You can have what people call “microsleeps”. I’ve had these during some less interesting lectures (it can be rather embarrassing!) when youre head nods down and you cant keep your eyes open. If you have these when youre driving you could definitely crash.

    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 20 Jun 2011:


      Hi @winnie13
      Hmm, this is a tricky one. When you’re drunk your reaction times are slowed down, so you’d find it would take you longer to react to the conditions of the road, and as Rachael mentions, when you’re tired you have ‘microsleeps’.

      So you’d be affected in different ways, but both would be really dangerous.

      I would avoid driving when tired OR drunk! In fact, although you’re legally allowed to drive after one or two drinks, I never drive if I’ve had a drink, because I don’t like to (also I’m a bit of a lightweight so alcohol affects me a lot)!

      Hope this answers your question a bit!

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