Couldn't help laughing on the way up to Gnaraloo recently. I think it was North of Geraldton somewhere - there is a big sign saying "Police are targetting Fatigue". How you may ask? Maybe they are going to have a Snooze bus and wave you over. Then get you to lay in bed for 10 mins while they read you a bed night story. If you doze off your're nicked !!

Its probably targetting truck drivers. In NSW the RTA have cameras across highways that take photos of passing semis. If the trucks go too far in a designated time then the RTA will follow it up. Perhaps police in WA have a similar system.

So if the coppers are targeting fatigue, does that mean I can speed and they wont stop me?

Could be worse..........





Just to mention a few...

Cheers
Bubs

I don't know about fatigue, but the cops in Geraldton are taking money for dangly things hanging from the mirror and vehicles with odd numbered spot lights.

my mum has got a little barina (with no roof racks), when to go to margs. we seem to fit about 4 boards in our car. can we get picked up for that?

Also depends on where the pigs are at on the quota. I know they'll deny that have one, but they do. At the very least, they get asked if they don't fine enough, so sure enough they're followed up on the tally.

I didn't break the law and still call them so. So easy to get dangerous drivers and they target the easy ones.

Now, to call them's donuts eaters vvankers, that's a bit harsh, no?

A friend of mine dozed of on a return trip from Karratha a few years ago. He left a widow and three young kids in a financial mess. It affected us all greatly. You mental giants that think those signs are put there for fun need to take your heads out of your arses and look at some of the circumstances that lead to the numerous white crosses on the side of the road before your family is putting 1 up with your name on it!!!

I got pulled up by the cops yesterday between sailing sessions, here's a short story.

I'd packed up fairly roughly as I was only driving a few kays down the road from one location to another. At this time I'm driving my wife's camry, the old style not the newer widebody variant. Now note, the old camry's don't have a split-fold back seat, in fact the back seat doesn’t fold down at all. I don’t have roof racks so the only solution (which I do regularly) is to remove the back seat altogether to fit maximum gear in to the car.

So I'm driving between locations, still wearing wet boardies, booties and a rashie when a big steel jawed traffic cop jumps out from behind an unmarked car and flags me in for a breath test. This big unit looks at me and says, "You don’t look like you've been drinking, you've just come off the water". This guy is clearly detective material.

I blow in the bag and of course get a clear result. Now robocop furrows his brow and looks into the car. There's two boards poking through from the removed back seat, laying on top of the folded down passenger seat with their noses almost resting on the windscreen. There's a section of mast running through the center console on either side of the gear shifter, a boom laying loosely on top of the boards and a soggy sail drapped over the lot. There's also a lighter and pocket knife on the dash from when I trimmed my downhaul rope earlier.

He says, "What exactly is the situation with…", he paused and pursed his lips.

My mind is racing, thinking the situation with what, unrestrained loads? Obstructed vision? Missing seats? Consealed weapons?

I braced waiting for the line which would cost me a ticket and a few points.

He continues, "What exactly is the situation with learning this stuff, what sort of board would I need?"

True Story.

While the best option by far is to pull over and take a nap for half an hour, if for some vital reason you can't afford the time and can't swap drivers, then try eating. I usually take a big bag of mints with me and leave it until I start feeling tired before I start consuming them. Once you start eating, you generally have to keep eating. Not good for your health or teeth, but much better than dying, or worse, killing someone else.

I have found clinker's the ideal keep me awake lolly, mints stay in your system for days.
Staying inside normal sleep patterns is also a must.
Police studies have found that normal drivers can survive an 8-10 hour trip with regular breaks in a normal awake period, same driver at night in a normal sleeping period is 60% more likely to have a head nod into the air bag or much worse.

For some strange reason I find driving to the Gloo harder, stop over in Carnarvon and feel wasted.
Drive from Gloo to Perth with breaks easy or is this just the Gloo factor. a week in paradise?

Funny how everyone has a story about,,,
" the time i drove a million miles without stopping for petrol, food, toilet, or sleep!"
I drove once from the north of England all the way to the south east Italian coast without sleep, just so i wouldn't miss my booking for the car ferry. How #$%king stupid!
I remember basking in the glory of my superhuman achievement. (Superstupid achievement) We all have done something similar at one time or another.

Funny though,,,,, how nobody ever tells you about the time they killed that family, child, windsurfer, when they had a split second micro nap at the wheel. Would be horrible to survive, and live with that everyday.

That's all it takes. A split second.

Been there, done that, got the scars to prove it. Was lucky i didn't kill anyone.

Thanks for the wake up call Krisiz1

Singing's good for keeping awake. Gotta concentrate to remember the words, gets you breathing more deeply so you get more oxygen to your cells.

Especially effective if you're tone deaf. Try falling asleep while torturing yourself!