Sybarite: I'm pretty sure driving while listening to A Prairie Home Companion Garrison Keillor should be illegal.

If I'm listening to NPR in the morning, I have to change the station when The Writer's Almanac comes on or risk waking up in a ditch.

Only on the weekends when they RUN 48 HOURS OF PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION. STOP IT NPR!!!

I have a friend who fell asleep and drove into the back of a trailer home that was being towed somewhere. Boy was his girlfriend pissed off. They're married and have kids now.

/He used to sleepwalk as a kid, too.
//Maybe he thought he could sleepdrive...

If I want a news summary during afternoon drive, my choice is (a) suffer through Hannity, (b) read my smartphone, or (c) All Things Considered.

Unobtanium: If I want a news summary during afternoon drive, my choice is (a) suffer through Hannity, (b) read my smartphone, or (c) All Things Considered.

Or, you know, listen to music.

/radio always set to NPR while driving

NPR here too. I enjoy This American Life on the weekends the best, actual topical stuff there.

Eatlemming: NPR here too. I enjoy This American Life on the weekends the best, actual topical stuff there.

On weekends just crank Car Talk up to stay awake. On Being (Speaking of Faith) on weekends puts me to sleep.

Around here my public radio can go from News, Classical or Hipster (Current), so I can flip accordingly.

I listen to NPR non-stop in my car and I'm not drowsy. Maybe you guys should try getting some sleep. Changing your lifestyle, something like that.

LouDobbsAwaaaay: Only 1 in 3 admit to "driving while drowsy"? If you work normal hours, you get up early. How are you not supposed to be drowsy on a morning commute?

Caffeine, peppermint, Rush (the power trio not the lardass).

I only drive stoned, which is the only thing that keeps me from forcing people off the road, dragging them from their cars, and ripping their farking trachea's out with my teeth.

Driving is friggin' dangerous. (WAY more dangerous than terrorism, and more dangerous than heart disease and cancer IIRC)

People appear to need that pounded into their heads.

Off all celebrities, I want to have a beer with the Car Talk guys the most.
And poor PHC tries so hard to be funny. And fails 90% of the time.

cryinoutloud: I listen to NPR non-stop in my car and I'm not drowsy. Maybe you guys should try getting some sleep. Changing your lifestyle, something like that.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

** "Ge Mig En Dag" on piano **

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzz....

For about 9 years between dropping out of college and getting a real job, I drove for a living - 800+ miles a day, 6 days a week. In the 33 years since I got my license I figure I have driven more than 3 million miles. I have never fallen asleep behind the wheel. I keep a bag of hard candy in the car and if I start getting tired I pop one in my mouth and start rolling it against the back of my front teeth. Try falling asleep when your head is rattling like it has a bicycle card in its spokes... If that fails, I had a mix-tape (now a playlist) of songs I couldn't help but sing along to. Finally, I'm not an idiot. When I have reached a point where I just couldn't manage it any longer, I pulled over and took a nap. Or got out and walked around a bit.

/Once drove from SLC to Baltimore twice in 4 days
//Once in the personal car and once in the moving van
///NOLA to York PA in one shot just last month

My taste in music doesn't allow for sleep.



/For the rest of you: I pray Google gets those self driving cars working.

MALWDD (mothers against Lake Wobegon Days Driving) are on the case!

Here's my CSB...

My wife offered to take a friend from Ohio to Virginia to pick up a car from his old house that had some repairs finally finished on it. He said it was a couple hours outside of DC, so we figured in the 8 hour range one-way. Not a huge deal to do the trip in one day and she's done long runs like this in the past. When we programmed the addresses into Google Maps on the Friday night before she was set to leave, it showed the town two hours on the other side of DC and 11 hours and 34 minutes one-way.

We both needed to be back in Ohio for Monday morning, so I offered to drive the bulk for her and she could sleep half the way home on the way back and then I could sleep the last leg and be rested for work. We left at 5:30am, got there about 5:00pm, left at 5:30. About 11:30, I'm getting the shifty eyes and I tell my wife that I need to stop and it's her turn so I can sleep. 12:00am rolls in and she nugdes me and says she can't do it and she's already got shifty eyes. So we pull into a gas station and I get a large coffee, some snacks, and 4 20oz. Code Red Mountain Dews. Got home at 5:30am, slept for an hour, got back up, and went to work. I have never been so tired in my life, let alone trying to be functional while that exhausted.

Sadly, that's not my only CSB for our history taking dumbass road trips like this...

I just wonder if having a speech impediment is a requirement to be on NPR because almost everybody on there has some sort of problem.

I seem to recall one of those myth busting shows demonstrating that driving drowsy was much more dangerous than driving what would be considered "legally impaired."

way south: My taste in music doesn't allow for sleep.



/For the rest of you: I pray Google gets those self driving cars working.

Yup, that and rolling down the windows. Also driving faster helps me stay awake (and police accepted that excuse one night while I was cruising through Texas).

WrestlerManager: I seem to recall one of those myth busting shows demonstrating that driving drowsy was much more dangerous than driving what would be considered "legally impaired."

Yea, but it's much less of a by choice situation. Life goes on despite us getting tired.

Linda Holmes is my master now.

Also, got sleep apnea, any driving for me is drowsy driving, but hey, gotta work right? Sorry if I kill you.

Smackledorfer: WrestlerManager: I seem to recall one of those myth busting shows demonstrating that driving drowsy was much more dangerous than driving what would be considered "legally impaired."

Yea, but it's much less of a by choice situation. Life goes on despite us getting tired.

Life goes on despite us having a drink, too.

My point was that the drunk driving laws in this country are ridiculous, to the point where having one drink with dinner can render you "over the limit," despite being less impaired than someone who didn't sleep well last night.

I would have figured the number much higher than that

Marshall Willenholly: I just wonder if having a speech impediment is a requirement to be on NPR because almost everybody on there has some sort of problem.

Gueave Ira Guass from This American Guife aglone!*

*Leave Ira Glass from This American Life alone!

/I know I know, not actually on NPR

So I get on the interstate the other day when NPR was going through the whole "Khadaffi is Dead" thing and giving details and I was listening intently and put on the cruise. I'm cruising along in my A3 2.0T for who knows how many miles when it finally occurs to me that I'm blowing past everyone on the road. hmmm....weather seems fine why is everyone driving so slow. It took a couple minutes to realize I had set the cruise at 95 instead of 75.

/cool story.

WrestlerManager: Smackledorfer: WrestlerManager: I seem to recall one of those myth busting shows demonstrating that driving drowsy was much more dangerous than driving what would be considered "legally impaired."

Yea, but it's much less of a by choice situation. Life goes on despite us getting tired.

Life goes on despite us having a drink, too.

My point was that the drunk driving laws in this country are ridiculous, to the point where having one drink with dinner can render you "over the limit," despite being less impaired than someone who didn't sleep well last night.

I, and most people, would prefer you don't put my life at risk to get high.

I, and most people, accept that being tired is often unavoidable.

If you don't see the difference, then you are a farking retard, regardless of whether you think a person drives better after two beers than without sleep. The one impairment is different from the other on a fundamental level.

Take my commute in the morning. Will I be drunk for it? Only by choice. Will I sleep well tonight? I'm damn sure going to try.

I like to listen during the pledge periods. Hate is a powerful stimulant.

RexTalionis: I drive listening to NPR!

I love NPR, I dont understand why most people biatch about them on the right. Sure they lean bias a lot of times but shiat most of their field assignments are by college kids so that would explain it.

I find they are the least biased though and usually(grudgingly sometimes) present both sides.

Oh I wish I could find the David Cross bit about NPR

Ed Finnerty: Marshall Willenholly: I just wonder if having a speech impediment is a requirement to be on NPR because almost everybody on there has some sort of problem.
The applications have a check box for "Deviated Septum" in the For Office Use Only area.
A check mark there all but guarantees employment

I couldn't find the right picture, but there was a Family Guy episode where the owner left for work and told the dog, "Here, I'll turn on the radio for you so you won't get lonely." It was NPR, and as soon as the soothing tones of the announcers came out, the dog started scratching the door so hard that its paws turned into bloody stubs.

Drunk driving > Texting while driving > Driving Drowsy
Texting while driving > Driving Drowsy > .08 driving

I certainly can't support drunk driving or driving at .08, but the focus on that compared to the focus on other types of distracted driving is rather skewed. If you are driving and hit someone while drunk, it can be manslaughter or a lower degree of murder in some jurisdictions. If you are texting and driving or driving for 24 hours without sleep, it probably won't be anything more than a non-moving violation ticket and a negligence lawsuit, that if you're properly insured (high limits), will mean that you don't pay anything out of pocket.

If drunk driving is going to be a criminal offense, then shouldn't other forms of distracted driving such as drowsy driving or texting while driving be more than negligence lawsuits? I drove to Kansas from Phoenix once, without stopping. By the end of the drive, I could hardly keep my head up and my reaction times were waaaay down, causing me to drive slower, thereby extending my drive. In hindsight, I realize it was stupid. I could have easily (and unintentionally) killed folks or seriously injured them in a highway speed car crash, especially once I was driving along I-35 in Kansas and extremely sleepy.

sickb0y: Linda Holmes is my master now.

Also, got sleep apnea, any driving for me is drowsy driving, but hey, gotta work right? Sorry if I kill you.

When I got on CPAP it became a *lot* easier to stay awake for driving - before, sometimes I had to chew on a finger.

Falling asleep at the wheel is the most dangerous side effect of sleep apnea. Certainly more dangerous than the strain on your heart.

jlj3394: If drunk driving is going to be a criminal offense, then shouldn't other forms of distracted driving such as drowsy driving or texting while driving be more than negligence lawsuits? I drove to Kansas from Phoenix once, without stopping. By the end of the drive, I could hardly keep my head up and my reaction times were waaaay down, causing me to drive slower, thereby extending my drive. In hindsight, I realize it was stupid. I could have easily (and unintentionally) killed folks or seriously injured them in a highway speed car crash, especially once I was driving along I-35 in Kansas and extremely sleepy.

The differentiation is based on the reality that some things are choices made for pleasure, and other things are pretty much not choices at all and in many cases necessities of life.

But perhaps in the far off future, sometime after utopia but prior to cars driving themselves, I'll be able to sleep in without losing my job, or get home after a 12 hour shift without losing my entire paycheck on cabfare.

I also find it amusing we are going to divide "drunk" and "buzzed" into categories but not various levels of "drowsy", or acknowledge the fact that you can decrease the effects of drowsiness through a variety of methods, but there is no coffee, no open window, no loud metal music, to keep you more awake.

Are there inconsistencies in the law when it comes to drinking and driving? Yep. There are worse impairments not punished as much and/or less detectable by a cop, and there is the inaccuracy of BAC. But you know what, its so goddamned easy not to drink and drive, so mind-numbingly simple, that the sheer selfishness of risking our lives so you can get high, that the level of negligence outshines those inconsistencies.

Marshall Willenholly: I just wonder if having a speech impediment is a requirement to be on NPR because almost everybody on there has some sort of problem.

The most common problem seems to be an inability to speak at a normal rate. They stretch 10 minutes of content to 20 with their slow-speak schtick. As if everything they're saying is too profound to explain quickly, or as if they think their audience is too stupid to follow their thoughts if they should pick up the pace a bit. I'm not sure which, but I'm leaning towards the "they think their audience is full of dolts and newbies to life" angle. That would explain their constant need to use an acronym, one that any allegedly informed listener should already know the meaning of, and proceed to explain it, completely negating the value of using an acronym.

But I wouldn't know because I never listen to NPR, watch Foxnews, shop at Walmart, or masterbate.