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Mississippi driving lesson · Vehicle Equipment & Safe Driving Basics

Vision, fatigue & long drives

A 3-minute lesson from the Mississippi course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Vehicle Equipment & Safe Driving Basics
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
21, 22

Driving is one of the riskiest tasks you'll do in your lifetime, and it depends on seeing clearly and staying alert. Poor vision delays how fast you spot trouble; fatigue affects your vision and slows your decisions.

Know the rule

If you can't see clearly, you'll have trouble identifying traffic and roadway conditions, spotting potential trouble, and responding to problems in a timely manner.

Handbook p. 21 ↗

If you're required to wear corrective lenses:

  • Always wear them when driving
  • Avoid dark or tinted corrective lenses at night
Handbook p. 21 ↗

Fatigue

Physical or mental tiredness caused by physical or mental strain, repetitive tasks, illness or lack of sleep. It can affect your vision and slow your decisions.

Handbook p. 21 ↗

Know the rule

Avoid driving if you are tired or fatigued.

Handbook p. 21 ↗
7 to 9 hours

Sleep most people need to maintain proper alertness during the day

Handbook p. 21 ↗
100 miles or 2 hours

Plan to stop about this often during long trips

Handbook p. 21 ↗

Fighting fatigue:

  • Get adequate sleep
  • Plan to stop about every 100 miles or 2 hours on long trips
  • Arrange for a travel companion
  • Check your medication labels and know whether they cause drowsiness
  • Don't use alcohol or other drugs when driving
Handbook p. 21 ↗

While driving long distances:

  • Take a break every one hundred miles
  • Don't follow the same vehicle or group for long periods; you may relax too much and lose concentration
  • Keep your eyes moving to avoid going to sleep at the wheel
  • Keep the interior of your car as cool as possible
Handbook p. 22 ↗

Put it into practice

You're driving 300 miles to the coast. Plan about three stops, roughly every 100 miles or 2 hours. Keep the car cool, keep your eyes moving, and don't trail the same truck for miles. If your cold medicine warns of drowsiness, let your travel companion drive.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

About how much sleep does the handbook say most people need to maintain proper alertness while driving?
  1. 10 to 12 hours
  2. 5 to 6 hours
  3. 7 to 9 hours
  4. 4 to 6 hours

Answer: 7 to 9 hours

Most people need seven to nine hours of sleep to maintain proper alertness during the day.

Handbook p. 21 ↗
On a long trip, about how often should you plan to stop to fight fatigue?
  1. Every 100 miles or 2 hours
  2. Every 50 miles or 1 hour
  3. Only when you feel drowsy
  4. Every 300 miles or 5 hours

Answer: Every 100 miles or 2 hours

The handbook recommends stopping roughly every one hundred miles or two hours on long trips.

Handbook p. 21 ↗
If you are required to wear corrective lenses, what should you avoid doing at night?
  1. Adjusting your mirrors before driving
  2. Wearing any corrective lenses at all
  3. Using your low-beam headlights
  4. Wearing dark or tinted corrective lenses

Answer: Wearing dark or tinted corrective lenses

Dark or tinted corrective lenses should be avoided at night because they further reduce vision.

Handbook p. 21 ↗
What effect can fatigue have on a driver, according to the handbook?
  1. It only affects steering precision
  2. It can affect vision and increase the time it takes to make decisions
  3. It only matters for drivers over age 65
  4. It has no measurable effect on decision-making

Answer: It can affect vision and increase the time it takes to make decisions

Fatigue can affect your vision and increase the time it takes you to make decisions.

Handbook p. 21 ↗
While driving long distances, how should you keep the interior of your car?
  1. As warm as possible
  2. At the same temperature as outside
  3. As cool as possible
  4. With the heater on low

Answer: As cool as possible

On long drives the handbook says to keep the interior of your car as cool as possible to stay alert.

Handbook p. 22 ↗
Poor vision mainly affects your ability to steer, not your ability to spot hazards or react in time.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: False

Poor vision makes it harder to identify traffic and roadway conditions and to respond to problems in time, not just to steer.

Handbook p. 21 ↗
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