Kuopio-Jukola night – who would like to sleep at all? However, if you plan to drive home on Sunday morning, sleep first.

If you don’t sleep for 20 hours, it corresponds to being drunk, says Tuula Taskinen from Liikenneturva (National organisation for traffic safety).

Driving when tired is extremely risky, in fact according to some studies it  is one of the causes in  as many as one third of the road accidents.

One fifth of drivers has sometimes fallen asleep when driving. The risk is great early in the morning. So what to do since you need to get home, too?

Make sure that at least one of your group has slept enough, at least 6 hours. If you have to drive although you feel tired, take a nap, drink coffee, or eat some dark chocolate.

A nap of 10 to 20 minutes will be enough, also during the trip, especially if you have a snack before that. Coffee kicks in in about 20 minutes.

Never use the cruise control when you are tired, Taskinen warns. If you fall asleep and the cruise control is on, terrible things can happen.

– People often overestimate their ability to drive when they are tired. You just can´t help it:  the brain falls asleep and it doesn´t ask your permission to do that.

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