Have you ever fallen asleep at the wheel?

Have you ever fallen asleep at the wheel?

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Am I right to take this to mean "behind the steering wheel of the vehicle you are driving or sitting in", not laying on the ground behind a cars tires or a stack of old tires behind the local repair garage? This pole is flawed unless you specify "behind the wheel"
 
Came close once while I lived in Worcester and was driving back after visiting a girlfriend in CT. Was about 2AM on 395 coming north. Kept closing my eyes for just a few seconds at a time.

Ended up opening all the windows in the car (temperature was in the 40s I think) to help me stay awake. One of the longest feeling drives I have ever had.

No alcohol involved.
 
I did once coming home from working 3rd shift. it was only for a few seconds (I assume) as I was on 93 north and was fighting that "falling asleep" feeling. no drinking involved honest, I was coming home from work but hand't slept much in days as I couldn't get used to the 3rd shift routine.
what I remember is that "waking up feeling" where I expected to be in my bedroom, accept I was on 93 driving in traffic and was shocked/jolted to wide-awake status in .2 seconds! :)
it had to have only been a few seconds or I would have gone off the road or caused an accident, but it was enough to not know where I was for a moment.
 
Yes. Back when I was going to school in Springfield and had to drive home after a late class on the Pike, I was sleepy (no alcohol involved) and knew I had a turn up ahead. Suddenly I was at the turn with the whole "How the fvck did I get here?" going on. I apparently nodded off for about several seconds. That woke me up. Windows down, radio up... I was lucky I didn't wake up another second later.
 
Yes. After I moved to Michigan in late 1991 I made it almost a weekly habit of driving home to Lowell on Friday and back to Michigan on Sunday.

Those Sunday returns were a ball buster on the 401 in Ontario. Many miles driven with the windows open and 6-8 diet Pepsi's screaming in my bladder trying to stay awake.

It was a long time ago but I know I was lucky a few times jerking awake in the middle of no-where..... Dumb, dumb kid.
 
Heading home at thanksgiving break (college) , VA to MA. Middle of the night, somewhere on Interstate 81. I think I was still in VA. Jolted awake when I hit the gravel on breakdown lane. Just in time not to hit guard rail. I still remember that feeling. Scared the shit out of me, not literally but yeah got the blood flowing. Got off at next rest stop, calmed down and slept for a bit.
 
Fell asleep late one night after coming home after a date with an old g/f, I was driving my roommates Buick Skyhawk. I woke up just in time to avoid a wooden power pole coming straight at me and was able to miss it by less than a foot. Blew 3 of the tires and bent some of the front end. 2nd scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life.
 
A few times. Their first time I drove into a concrete wall at less than 5 miles an hour. My mom was dying from cancer and I cannot get any rest at all job required me driving all night long. I had like 5 hours sleep in 2 days. The second time I was really tired and did everything I could to keep my eyes open and next thing I remember is waking up and I was driving on this guy's yard and just missed a palm tree.
 
I have fallen asleep behind the wheel of a car before. That was in the early 1980s when it was OK to drink and drive.
 
Yes, if you consider a myoclonic jerk being asleep.

Back in the 80's I routinely did outage work at Nuclear Power Plants.

After working 14 hr+ shifts I'd have to drive back to the hotel and for some sites that was a 30 to 45 minute drive.

More than once I found myself waking up as my head snapped from a myoclonic jerk.
 
No my mothers brother died a year after she was married, fell asleep behind the wheel, or so the story went. He was my mom's last living immediate family member. Needless to say it was drummed into our heads from a very young age.

~Dee~
 
I went to college an hour from where I lived. I also did some plays at the community theater (lights). I never fell a sleep, but came close many times. Many times I didn't remember passing a town. Of course the biggest drive home from college after a play was driving home at midnight in no visibility fog. I was doing 10 over the speed limit and cars were appearing out of no where. Looking back, it was dumb, but man what a story I have now.

Now I only drive until I absolutely can't. The year before I got married, Sarah and I went to Nashville for the day. A four hour drive, we had tickets to the Grand Ole Opry Matinee. Once we got down there, we decided to go to the Grand Ole Opry that started at 7pm Central and lasts two hours. It took an hour to get out of the parking lot. We also took the long way home (instead of Nashville to Evansville to home, we took Nashville to Louisville to Evansville to home). Somewhere near Bowling Green Kentucky, I couldn't go no more. Sarah drove, I remember waking up in Louisville, a rest stop on a interstate, then home. It is a good thing Sarah is a night person, we got home at 4am. We should have just got two hotel rooms instead, but we didn't.
 
Worked 6 1/2 yrs graveyard shift, 12am to 8am.

I can honestly say at least a hundred times driving home at 8:10am I felt WAY less capable of the task at hand than going out with the guys for an hour or two knocking back 5-6, even though that knowingly puts you over the limit.

Did it all. Windows down. Wet face towels on neck. Radio CRANKED. It's a truly terrifying feeling.
 
I have pulled over into a rest area and taken a nap. so if I reclined the seat but was still behind the wheel I guess that means I fell asleep behind the wheel - at the suggestion of the state cop who saw my head bobbing and she returned 4 hours later to wake me up so I could make it to my game the next day. (no drinking involved but she was cute in her uniform)

actually I have done this on many occasions because I used to drive all over the place for no reason, could be just to see the sun rise. - the best was my land cruiser with futon mattress in the back, I would get bored and drive to the ocean, back into a spot looking for the sun to rise over the water while resting under my blankie and taking a nap.
 
Yes, I have occasionally listened to Asleep At the Wheel. I'm not proud of it, but sometimes shit just happens and we all make mistakes.
 
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