Does coffee really help against drowsiness at the wheel?

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If you’re feeling tired, you probably reach for a cup of coffee here and there. But does this drink help against drowsiness?

During the vacation season, many people set off on vacation by car. But they all know that moment behind the wheel when you almost nod off.

Then it’s best to pull over and rest. But quite a few people prefer a different remedy: to wake themselves up again, they drink coffee (which you should never drink on an empty stomach). Whether this helps against drowsiness has now been investigated in France.

Sleepiness and its dangers
More precisely, an experiment was conducted with three groups of test subjects. The first group was given decaffeinated coffee, the second was a double espresso with 169 milligrams of caffeine, and the third was a caffeinated drink with 160 milligrams of caffeine.

All test subjects were then placed in a simulator where they had to drive for 15 minutes on a closed road and 30 minutes on a highway, including braking.

After this test section, each person drank the drink assigned to them. Another stay followed this in the simulator, where everyone had to drive on the highway for two hours, including three braking situations.

Fighting drowsiness with caffeine
According to the study, the behavior in the braking situations provides information about the effectiveness of caffeine. All those who had not been given the placebo drink were less drowsy and reacted better when braking.

The people in the group without the caffeinated drink, on the other hand, were consistently slower. Coffee, therefore, influences the known phases of microsleep.

If you are planning a longer journey behind the wheel, having a small coffee about 15 minutes before you set off is not a bad idea. However, you must know that coffee is not a substitute for a break. So take a break every two hours and nap if you feel too tired.