Feeling weary driving on a highway? Stop your car and get some rest!

Every tenth accident on the Polish motorways is caused by the driver getting tired or falling asleep. What can be done to make our trip on a highway safe? Experts advice: do make stops while traveling, listen to your body and plan your breaks.

On the one hand, traveling on a highway is very safe, but on the other hand, driving on a straight and safe road for a long time may make the drivers tired. If we continue driving for hours on a motorway with no stops at all, tragedy is just a moment away.

“I used to drive from A to B making no stops myself, until on a bright, sunny day I happened to fall asleep for a few seconds behind the wheel“, confesses Renata Rychlewska, Spokesperson for the operator Autostrada Eksploatacja SA. “Ever since, even if my trip id 200-300 km long, I plan a stop in my journey. How often? Experts recommend taking a break every 2 hours, even if we don’t feel tired.”

The statistics are ruthless: out of 415 accidents that happened on Polish motorways in 2019, more than 40 were caused by drivers getting tired or falling asleep behind the wheel. This means that every tenth accident, on the average, could have been avoided had the driver taken care of taking a rest.

“Drivers may use the professionally equipped Rest and Service Areas, gas stations, restaurants or children’s playgrounds. Just a short  moment of rest will help you stay alert and swiftly react to any events that may happen during your trip. This is of particular importance at high speeds on the motorway and during the intense holiday traffic when also those drivers who have less experience on the highways choose these roads for their trips”, says Anna Ciamciak, Spokesperson for the concession company Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A..

Tired drivers are one of the major causes of incidents on motorways

Highway Patrolmen monitoring the Wielkopolska section of A2 motorway are constantly analyzing the reasons for accidents and collisions. According to them, the most frequent cause, apart from excessive speed in given driving conditions and incorrect change of lane maneuvers, is drivers’ etiredness, drowsiness and body and mind caught off-guard. The staff of the Central Control Team concur.

“In 2019 tiredness and falling asleep caused 10 incidents in the section Świecko – Konin we service. This year, even though there has been fewer collisions and accidents because of the COVID-driven slump in traffic, as many as 15 of them were caused by drivers feeling weary or falling asleep behind the wheel”, reports Krzysztof Golis, Manager of the Central Control Team of the Operator.

Plan your break, do some squats

What can be done to always make our trip on a highway safe? Experts have no doubts about it: we must learn to plan breaks in our journey. Preferably every 2 hours or even more frequently if we feel tired.

“On motorways and expressways, where vehicles travel at high speeds, it is extremely important for the drivers to be at their sharpest to safely drive their cars. Each symptom or token of weariness should make us pull over at the nearest parking area or gas station to take some rest. This is the only way for us to safely continue our journey”, such advice comes from Inspector Andrzej Borowiak of the District Police Headquarters in Poznań.

“A frequent mistake drivers make is to treat refueling as a break in their journey. In fact, we don’t rest while refueling. Once we pull over to refuel, let’s take even a 5 minute break, walk around the car, do some squats or bends, drink some water and only then resume driving, suggests Tomasz Zagajewski of the Traffic Safety Center, co-promoter of the Safe Motorway initiative.

Experts advise not to wait with the break until the last moment, because it may turn out we have just driven past the Service Area, with the next one a few dozen kilometers ahead.

Choose your place to stop

In the 255 km stretch of the concession section managed by Autostrada Wielkopolska there are 22 Rest and Service Areas equipped, depending on their category, not only in toilets, picnic areas and children’s playgrounds, but also gas stations, restaurants and even a hotel. It would be worthwhile, prior to commencing the trip, to plan the route, but also schedule the stops to take some rest.

If all travelers are adults, it doesn’t really matter which Rest or Service Area is chosen for a stop. However, if you’re traveling with children, it is better to stop at a Service Area equipped with a playground or a restaurant. To choose the exact place to make a stop, all it takes is to visit www.autostrada-a2.pl or www.aesa.pl and pick the preferred location on the interactive map.