Public Service announcement: "This drug may impair the ability to drive or operate machinery. "
This isn't only about that warning, but about driving while you are tired. For most people, that means after a late night the day before. For me, that means trying to get too much at once despite my autoimmune fatigue.
About a year ago, i was running around doing last minute Christmas preparations. I was bone tired, it was the end of the day, but I drove out to a local nursery to get my poinsettias. I thought I was alert - I wasn't yawning or blinking my eyes. I finished my shopping and headed home, making a left turn at an intersection I've used for 30 years.
I know there was a school bus where it didn't belong. I will never know exactly what I did, because I was unconscious for at least 15 minutes after my car was totaled by a machine twice its size. I think what happened is that the driver who hit me was reacting to the school bus and never saw me until he swung into my lane and hit me. What I know is that if I'd been fully alert, I would never have entered the intersection; and wouldn't have been there to hit.
So - the public service announcement - you may think you're awake enough to drive or operate that snow blower or whatever, and you'll be OK as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens. But you can't guarantee that nothing unusual will happen, that someone won't back out of a driveway in front of you, that that food processor doesn't jam, that someone's Christmas tree doesn't come flying off their car roof straight at you. If you are at all tired, your reactions and ability to think through what you should do next may be impaired enough to put you in a world of hurt.
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