Are You Feeling Sleepy?

Anybody else feeling a bit tired at this time of year? What with all the build-up to Christmas, the Big Day itself, the weirdness of the in-between days at the end of December and the fun of staying up all night to see in the new year, it would be unsurprising if you weren’t a bit tired. This is especially the case if you’re one of the many who has to keep working during this time of year (because cars still need fuel, fruit needs to be harvested, cows need to be milked and people need to eat). Add in the fact that this is when quite a lot of people like to drive longer distances to visit relatives or to go somewhere on holiday, and you get a much higher risk of people driving fatigued.

Fatigue is more than just ordinary tiredness. According to the dictionary, fatigue is a state of complete mental and physical exhaustion, of being completely and utterly worn out or, as C.S. Lewis would put it “dog-tired, cab-horse tired, tired like a child in a factory”. You could refer to it as being overtired.

Why Fatigue Matters

Fatigue matters because it affects your driving. It makes you less alert and less aware of your surroundings, and it slows your reaction time. It also affects your thinking powers so that you make crappy decisions. In short, driving fatigued is at least as bad as driving drunk. In fact, the two are pretty similar. Both slow your reaction times and affect your ability to make decisions. However, people who drive drunk are likely to make impulsive, reckless decisions, whereas those who drive when exhausted are likely to be less alert, less aware of hazards and slow to make a judgement call. In fact, driving after having been awake for 20 hours is the equivalent to driving at the legal alcohol limit.

Fatigue also carries the risk of nodding off at the wheel. You can see why. It’s dark outside (signalling to your body that it’s night time and therefore bedtime), the white lines on the road flick by monotonously (which has a hypnotic effect), the car seat is beautifully padded and supportive, and the interior of the car is warm… Before you know it, you can feel your eyelids drooping and your head nodding. Not good. Even if you nod off for a second, that can be one second too many if your car swerves.

Unfortunately, although you can estimate breath or blood alcohol levels, you can’t measure fatigue. You can’t even pin it down purely to the number of hours you’ve slept for the way you can pin down the amount of alcohol you’ve had using the number of standard drinks. Although lack of sleep is one component of fatigue, it’s not the only factor. Someone who had had one bad night of sleep can be less fatigued when driving than someone who’s had a week or more of wakefulness and insomnia, even though the first person has had fewer hours of sleep last night. A lot of things influence your level of fatigue other than how much sleep you’ve had – there’s how stressed or emotionally drained you’re feeling, any mental fatigue you’re going through (hard day at work, anyone?), what exercise you’ve done and what you’ve been eating.

One contributor to fatigue, both mental and physical, is doing the same thing for hours and keeping alert and focused on one thing for hours. This is exactly what happens when you’re driving, especially if you have to focus intently the entire time (e.g., in very busy traffic). This makes long-haul driving especially risky.

Then there’s the little matter of your body clock. It’s natural for the hormones in your body to fluctuate during the day, although this can be influenced by what you’ve been eating and/or drinking (looking at you, caffeine). This means that you can be feeling fine in the morning even though you’ve only had five hours of sleep the night before, then feel sleeeeeeepyyyyy come midday. In fact, it’s natural for people to feel a bit lethargic in the middle of the day after lunch, and it’s not just because of the heat. Your body clock can be messed with by a number of things, including shift work, the changeover to and from daylight savings, having a new baby in the house… and even the very common habit of staying up late and sleeping in on weekends.

How Can You Avoid Driving While Fatigued?

The main cause of fatigue is poor sleep, so the obvious answer to how you can avoid driving while fatigued is to ensure that you get a good night’s sleep on a regular basis. The odd broken night, late night or very early morning probably won’t hurt you or your driving, but if it happens too often, you could be putting yourself and your passengers in danger.

This is primarily a driving blog rather than a health blog, so I can’t go into too much detail about how to get a good night’s sleep, but here are some ideas:

• Have a regular bedtime routine, which helps your body wind down and get ready to sleep.
• Wake up at the same time every day (yes, even on weekends!).
• Avoid blue light (e.g., screens without a filter) last thing at night.
• Keep your bedroom dark and minimize the number of devices you keep in there.
• Watch your caffeine intake. A good rule of thumb is to have your last cup of coffee at 4 pm, and switch to other drinks after that.
• Avoid thinking about, reading about or watching anything likely to make you stress, angst or worry – including the fact that you can’t sleep if you’re having trouble dropping off.

Other ways that you can help avoid fatigue when you’re driving are the following:

• Know yourself. If you’re a night owl, avoid driving in the early morning when you’re not fully awake. If you’re an early bird, then avoid driving later at night.
• Be aware of your natural ebb and flow of sleep-related hormones. If you know that you’re tired, it may be best to avoid driving during the early afternoon slump. This is a good excuse to get out and go for a stroll (which will ease some of the mental fatigue and give you a good oxygen burst) or to take a siesta.
• Having extra coffee – although this only works in the short-term and will wear off and leave you even more fatigued, so use this one with caution.
• Opening the window for fresh air and switching on some pumping music. Again, these are only short-term fixes to wake the brain up by increasing oxygen intake and getting some natural stimulation (in the form of music). However, these also wear off fairly quickly.
• Share the driving. If you know that you have to put in a long-haul drive, then arrange for the passenger to take a sleep first as you go (eye masks and a nice pillow help here), then swap.
• PULL OVER AND TAKE A NAP. It won’t kill you if you pull over somewhere safe, turn off the engine put the seat back and have a short nap (about 10 minutes or so). However, falling asleep at the wheel may kill you. If you’ve got kids in the car, then wait until they’re asleep before you do this if you’re alone. If there’s another adult in the car, then the other adult can keep an eye on the kids while they whizz around in a playground and you sleep. But get that nap. It’s better to arrive 10 minutes late than to not arrive at all.

Roadside Assistance

There are a whole bunch of awesome businesses ready and waiting to come to our aid when we experience a breakdown while on our way from A to B.  As we draw closer to the holiday season, having the backup of a roadside assistance team in our travel plans is a jolly good idea.  According to some of the latest stats from Australia’s NRMA (National Roads and Motorists’ Association Limited), even a brand-spanking new car can still have a breakdown.

A few years ago, I was doing a lot of travelling between office sites and, in the space of 6–12 months, I had had a spate of three-or-so callouts.  Two were for the alternators giving out, and I forget what the other was for – possibly a dud battery.  I also remember a time when I was barely out of my teens, that I had locked the keys in the car, and a very skilful bloke came and unlocked the car within seconds.

The NRMA is one of those roadside assistance teams that are ready to come to the rescue.  New cars are great when they work fine, and most do for most of the time.  NRMA recently stated that car technology is improving, and now there’s even cars that drive themselves, but still these cars have the potential to break down. Over the last year, the number of call outs that the NRMA have had for new cars aged between 0–3 years old has risen by 43% compared to the previous year.  Over the entire year there were 103,262 new cars in Australia that needed the NRMA breakdown assistance service.

In a 2017 NRMA survey, cars that were between 11–20 years old had the highest number of breakdowns, followed closely by cars aged 4–10 years old.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, the car’s batteries were at the heart of most of those breakdowns.  During that year, 25% of the callouts were for dud batteries.

Across the ditch in NZ, the AA found out that, in relatively recent years, their number one callout for road assistance was also for a flat or faulty battery.  Batteries can go flat for various reasons but most commonly they are faulty because the car has been unused for a while, or only used for short journeys.  Also, there may be a faulty component in the battery system or the car’s charging system (maybe the alternator has worn out).

The NRMA also came to the rescue of plenty of people who had locked themselves out of the car (5%).  It’s easier to lock your keys in the car than you think!  Number two for AA was for lost keys!

The third most common reason for AA to be called out was for damaged tyres and wheels.  The cause of a damaged or flat tyre is most often due to hitting a sharp object, but other reasons include the tyre’s valve failing, the tyre’s hitting a kerb or a deep pothole at speed, or even just old age.

AA found that AdBlue was the next main reason for their callouts.  Most modern diesel vehicles use a Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) method for lowering harmful nitrogen oxide emissions from exiting the exhaust system.  AdBlue (also called urea or Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF)) is an additive that helps with this process, and it requires to be kept topped up for the car to work properly.  The modern diesel engine won’t start if it runs out of this stuff, so it’s important to keep it topped up.

Number five for AA callouts was for the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF).  Again, the DPF is a part of the exhaust system on vehicles with a diesel engine.  The DPF traps fine particles of soot and burns them off into a less-harmful gas.  Generally, long hot running keeps this filter clear, but it may get blocked up if you do lots of short journeys.  The car won’t run properly, and a warning light comes up on the screen if the DPF isn’t functioning as it should.

Engine oil issues accounted for AA’s next most common callout.  Having the wrong level of engine oil inside your car’s engine can damage it.  And that gets expensive!  Having too much oil can be just as risky as having too low a level of oil.  Make sure you do check your engine oil.  Even Toyota’s, as they start to cover moderate kms, can start to use a bit of oil between services.  Learn how to regularly check your engine oil using the dipstick.  Your vehicle’s handbook will give you a good guide for checking the level of oil in your engine, as well as a guide for adding the correct amount of oil for topping up your car’s engine.

Faults with the car’s alternator was the next biggest issue.  If you experience persistent battery problems and dim headlights when your car’s engine is idling, you could have a fault with your alternator.  If your ignition warning light comes on and the engine temperature rises quickly, the belt that drives the alternator and the water pump may have broken.  If this happens, then stop right away and get help!  If you don’t, the engine will quickly overheat and self-destruct itself costing lots of money in repairs or even a total engine replacement.

Starter motors fail as they age.  Although starter motors are usually tough and robust, they do fail eventually.

The ninth most common issue that required AA was for problems with the car’s fuel system.  Never start your engine if you’ve accidentally put the wrong fuel type in your car (diesel instead of petrol or vice versa).  Also, fuel filters can get clogged up causing rough engine performance.  The fuel filters also require servicing and even replacement for many cars.  But then if you don’t have any fuel in the tank, then the car won’t go either!

Tenth most common reason for a callout was for the car overheating.  In this case, there could be problems with the engine or with the engine’s cooling system.  If there’s steam coming from your engine or the temperature warning light is on, just pull over and stop.  A hot engine is a recipe for costly damage.

In light of all these things, it is wise to have a roadside assistance team there to back you up at any time of the day or night, whether it is the holiday period or just an everyday commute.  NRMA, RAC, and 24/7 Roadservices Australia are three roadside assistance teams that offer us a great service.  Of course, there are others as well.

Here are some quick tips if you have a breakdown while out on the road:

• Turn on your hazard lights as soon as you sense something’s wrong.
• Slow down and pull off to the side of the road.
• Stop in a safe place and put the parking brake on.
• Once you are safe, call your roadside assistance team.

How Does Autonomous Emergency Braking Work?

With Autonomous Emergency Braking, or AEB for short, now effectively in just about every new car, it’s become a benchmark requirement in much the same way that ABS and traction control did all those years ago. Obviously, its impact cannot be appreciated enough, reducing all sorts of accidents and saving lives. But how exactly does AEB work? Let’s take a look.

The Basics of AEB

There are three attributes that ultimately play a role in AEB systems.

Autonomous: the system acts independently of the driver to avoid or mitigate the accident.
Emergency: the system will intervene only in a critical situation.
Braking: the system tries to avoid the accident by applying the brakes.

What Does AEB Rely On?

Most AEB systems use radar, a pair of cameras, and/or lidar-based technology to identify potential collision risks ahead of the car.

This information is combined with what the car knows of its own travel speeds thanks to internal sensors and direction of travel. It determines whether or not a critical, or potentially dangerous situation, is developing.

If a potential collision is detected, AEB systems generally, though not exclusively, first try to avoid the impact by warning the driver that action is needed. This could be in the form of a visual warning, such as dashboard mounted flashing lights, or physical warnings.

If no action is taken, and a collision is still expected, the system will then apply the brakes. Some systems apply full braking force. Others may be more subtle in application. Either way, the intention is to reduce the car’s speed. Some systems deactivate as soon as they detect avoidance action being taken by the driver

How AEB Has Evolved?

Most early AEB systems were configured to warn of larger objects such as cars. Over time, these systems have been refined to incorporate features like pedestrian-detection, which is arguably just as much a risk on the roads.

Unlike the early days, where AEB was mostly reserved for passenger vehicles, today you will find it in just about any type of vehicle. Whether it be a sedan, wagon, city car, hatch, ute, or SUV – the technology is firmly embedded across the board. And that is thanks to its significant influence in improving on-road safety.

In 2015, ANCAP and Euro NCAP found that the inclusion of AEB led to a 38% reduction in rear-end crashes at low speed. This percentage will have only increased since then given the advancements that have been made. That firmly puts it in the category of being one of the most important safety attributes you’ll find in any car on the road.

Carbon Fibre’s use in Cars

It may come as no surprise to you that the amazingly strong and lightweight material – carbon fibre – has been used in some of the high-end sports cars and racing cars.  Cars like the Koenigsegg Agera, the McLaren Senna, Porsche’s 918 Spyder, the Ferrari LaFerrari, Alfa Romeo’s 4C, and BMW’s i8 use a carbon-fibre monocoque body shell in their design.  Even BMW’s recent i3 EV city car boasts a carbon-fibre monocoque cell.

BMW i3

Of course, there are many pieces that make up a car’s whole, many of which there are components which can also be made up of carbon fibre, and these are actually more prevalent in different forms and measures throughout the motoring industry, particularly in high-end luxury cars.  In some of BMW’s and Porsche’s latest premium cars, carbon fibre has been introduced in various arrangements within the vehicles’ body components.  Obviously, the rarer the part, then it will have quite an expensive price tag attached.

Then there are multiple smaller workshops and larger businesses dedicated to creating special automobile parts and designs made from the composite material carbon fibre.  Some of these components might be a certain air diffuser or spoiler to make the car look more aggressive or more aerodynamic.  Some of these businesses even make carbon fibre interior wraps with a distinctive pattern to make an individual’s car stand out from the crowd.

So, what is carbon fibre?

A quick science lesson first to help us understand: Carbon is number six on the periodic table, and so the carbon atom consists of 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons.  Two of the 6 electrons fill up an electron shell close to the carbon atom’s nucleus, while the other four electrons sit in a half empty electron shell around the outside.  These electrons running about on the outside shell are known as valence electrons and are the key to carbon’s amazing and incredible properties.  Any electrons in an atom’s outer shell are involved in taking part in forming chemical bonds.  How many bonds these electrons are involved with depend on how much room there is in the outside shell.  What makes carbon so amazing is that it has got space for four other electrons to make its outer shell full.  This attribute makes carbon a four-way connector that can link atoms together.

A polymer is any material that is made of long, repeating chains of molecules.  So, carbon can build up straight chains of carbon atoms, carbon chains with branches, and even carbon chains that are joined end to end to make loops!  So, a carbon polymer is made up of chains and chains of carbon molecules that are linked up in a scaffolding-type structure.  Carbon can bond to itself, but, when it doesn’t, the end of the carbon chains can terminate with other elemental atoms.  For example, a carbon chain can finish up with a small hydrogen atom, which makes these chains slippery like in oils.  Carbon chains can also connect to other groups of elements, making them a specific ‘functional group’, each group having a different chemical property.

Graphite is a crystalline form of the carbon element.  Individual layers of graphite are some of the strongest structures that we know about in the universe.  Carbon fibre material is made up of individual layers of graphite, which on their own are quite slippery.  Carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites (also known as carbon-fibre laminates) are made up of woven layers of nearly pure carbon fibres that are bonded together by a hardened plastic like an epoxy resin. CFRP composites are therefore extremely strong and stiff.

A stretched carbon fibre is up to five times the strength of steel, as durable as steel, but only a quarter of steel’s density.  Being this strong and much less dense than steel makes carbon fibre a lighter and stronger material than steel.  On top of being extremely strong and lightweight, carbon fibre is also high in chemical resistance, has a high stiffness, has low thermal expansion, has a low weight to strength ratio, and is tolerant of excessive heat.  These are the reasons why carbon fibre is so sought after in the motor racing arena and in high-grade luxury sports vehicles?  These amazing properties make carbon fibre a very popular material for use in aerospace, military, recreational, as well as in automotive industry applications.

As CFRPs become more readily available, the trickle down effect will see it being more and more a part of a new mainstream motor vehicle, EVs included.