Thanks to your breaks, you make the motorway safer.

This short or even long pause to stop and think about something other than the road is our main ally against loss of concentration. Sleepiness and tiredness are important factors in accidents, as explained to us by Claire Dufossé, expert in safety and signage with APRR:     
 “Loss of concentration remains a major cause of motorway accidents. You need to be especially careful during this summer holiday period when we tend to set off late after a day’s work or very early to avoid the traffic, when we’re insufficiently rested. Besides, there are times of the day when we’re more likely to suffer from this loss of concentration, particularly the morning between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM and also the early afternoon, after lunch.”
 
How can we recognise it? What are the warning signs?
Repeated yawning, difficulty concentrating, smarting eyes, stiff neck and back, pins and needles in the legs… or forgetting to take a turn-off because you weren’t concentrating.”
 
What advice should we follow when these signs appear, or maybe before?
“The best advice is to pull into a service area for a break. In any case it’s good practice to take a break every two hours, whether you feel you need it or not. It’s important. And if you need to stop more often, you shouldn’t hesitate to do so. In the service area you shouldn’t worry about necessarily having to sleep at all costs, but if you can, it’s good to take a twenty-minute nap. On the other hand if you sleep for too long it will be hard to wake up. Another possibility when there are several people is to switch drivers. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water and to talk to your passengers. This helps you stay alert, and the passengers will be looking too. It’s always good to have several pairs of eyes to see what’s happening on the motorway.”