Drowsy while driving across northern Ontario? Experts tell you how to beat ‘highway hypnosis’ | CBC News

Retired Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer and traffic safety consultant Mark Andrews said he wasn’t a stranger to seeing energy drink cans at crash sites across northern Ontario.

“Regardless of that, the person still fell asleep,” he said.

According to Andrews, drivers making longer trips in and out of northern Ontario this long weekend will have extra company on the highway.

“They’re not going to make the trip in the same amount of time usually because there is a lot more traffic.”

He added of all the hazards that can happen, fatigue is an immediate one for drivers gazing down the same lane for hours along Highways 11 and 400.

Less rest stations

Highway hypnosis, also known as white line fever, happens when long distance drivers are stuck in an automatic treadmill-like state. 

Symptoms include drivers feeling drowsiness, but still having enough function to navigate highways.

Drivers under highway hypnosis could also forget they passed by certain towns or miss signs across their trip.

“Because of the distances, we don’t have as many rest stations,” Andrews added.

He said having a sense of urgency to reach a destination without stopping doesn’t save time due to increased traffic.

Instead, continuing on without stopping feeds into the hypnosis and increases risk of a crash, Andrews said.

‘More chaos on the highways’

Early this week, OPP launched its latest campaign telling drivers to keep an eye on the roads.

So far this year, they added 205 people died in OPP-reported collision across the province.

The number marks a 15 per cent increase compared to last year.

“People are travelling from different parts of the province and different parts of the country. That creates more chaos on the highways,” said Rob Lewis, acting sergeant and media coordinator of OPP northeast region.

Lewis and Andrews both said the best cure for highway hypnosis is to simply pull over and take a break.

“Slow down, just take your time. Fatigue does affect your reaction time,” Lewis said.

A few tricks, including reading all signs and stretching legs in other towns are safer bets of reaching a destination, Andrews added.

His favourite hack includes stopping by towns to collect trinkets and taking photos of moose and other interesting characters.

“We’re not superhuman. Give yourself time. Concentrate on the trip, not the destination and don’t try to get there as fast as you can.”