Safest rest spots

Parent Cafe
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<p>Am starting this thread for myself, but perhaps it will also be helpful for any parents whose kids will be driving long distances in the next few weeks.</p>

<p>After six years of having two kids in college, both over 700 miles from home, and many visits with them that we drove to, I am making my first solo trip next week. I’ve always had either H or either D making the drive with me.</p>

<p>Here’s the problem, no matter what time I go to bed the night before, or how much sleep I get, after a certain number of hours of driving (anywhere between 2-4) I hit the wall. I absolutely cannot keep my eyes open anymore, and this is usually the first time we switch drivers. Then I will doze for anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half, wake up, then I’m absolutely fine to drive the entire rest of the way. </p>

<p>So, as a precaution, I am taking two days to drive out there, but am hoping I can make it back in one day (we always do this drive in one day when it’s two of us driving). I have to be there for a certain event and am taking the two days so that if I need an unusually high number of rest stops, I can still make it on time. Coming back, I can stop as often as I need, and arrive home whenever.</p>

<p>The reason I am driving is to switch out cars with D2 who will be driving home after finals in December, with one day at home before catching a very early flight out the next day to meet up with H and I. Her car is rather old and has quite a few miles, although otherwise is dependable. She will have some minor issues checked out with a mechanic this week. But we will feel much better if she’s driving home with little wiggle room in a more reliable car, which is why I’m driving out… to switch cars with her (yea I know, if her car has problems on the way home, I’m inconvenienced, but I’m not trying to make a flight within 48 hours). </p>

<p>I’ve resigned myself that at some point I will need to pull off and get in a little snooze, or nap. I can imagine all kinds of possibilities, but no matter where it is, it’s always risky to sleep in your car. Of course I will keep the doors locked, and maybe even the engine on in park. </p>

<p>The most obvious options seem to be a well-utilized rest area (the kind that have restaurants, gas stations, etc.) or a parking lot in a mall or strip mall that is busy. Does this sound reasonable? I will be on interstate the entire way. Some of it will be in more populated areas, and some will be in very remote areas with many miles between towns. Any suggestions on how to ‘rest’ safely? Oh, I don’t really do caffeine well, so I can’t use that as a crutch.</p>

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<p>I don’t think you can stop and sleep in a car safely anywhere. I used to do the 600-mile to my daughter’s school in one day by myself, all on interstates, and although I would feel comfortable at any of the rest areas during the day for a bathroom or snack stop, I would not stay at any of them alone and asleep in my car. If you feel you cannot make the trip home in one day without a nap (and I do think it’s a bit too far for one driver in one day), I hope you will be able stop at a motel about 500 miles into the homeward journey–I know it seems like a waste of the day but it will be less worrisome for all. Or perhaps you could make a recreational trip out of it and find someplace touristy or historic to visit on the drive home and break up the trip that way, staying at a motel in some place that works well for that plan.</p>

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<p>A Walmart parking lot in a decent sized town should be fine. They let RVs hook up there!
Also, a decent mall parking lot in daytime not to far from an entrance should be OK.</p>

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<p>I find that listening to a book on tape helps me stay awake, as does nibbling on something. In the old days, I’d use Milk Duds: the combination of chewing and sugar worked. Now that that is out of the question I use smoked almonds. Of course, I also use coffee, but that’s not an option for you.</p>

<p>I think that you are correct that the only comparatively safe rest stop to stop and sleep in is the type that has an all-night restaurant and gas station. In addition, I would park as close as possible to the entrance to the restaurant/shop, definitely NOT on the fringes of the lot or buried somewhere in the middle. You want to be in a location where no one can interfere with you without being seen by a number of other people. For that reason, a strip mall would seem better than a regular mall lot.</p>

<p>I’d lock the car and take the keys out of the ignition so you can set the alarm. If someone tries to open your door it will go off. </p>

<p>If you can’t nap under those circumstances, better to stay overnight somewhere.</p>

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<p>Thousands of truck drivers sleep at rest stops every night. I would say…if you are in a well lighted parking area on any of the thruway reststops (toll roads) you know…outside of the Mcdonalds :)…you should be fine. I would park as close to the doors as possible. </p>

<p>Make sure you lock your doors.</p>

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<p>

Definitely DON’T take a nap while parked with the engine running. There could be a leak allowing exhaust gases into the car which can kill you (it happens to people every year). </p>

<p>As far as a safe place to snooze goes - if you’re in a safer type of area with lots of people coming and going you should be reasonably safe although things can happen anywhere - even Walmart parking lots. Another interesting option might be the parking lot of a police station although I don’t know if they’d let you snooze there. In a rest area park in an area with people coming/going as opposed to off at the end of the lot for privacy. Someplace closer to the trucker area might be good as well. A truck stop might be an okay place since there are lots of professional truckers coming/going who are doing the same thing as you but I’ve not tried to rest at one.</p>

<p>The most important thing is to notice that you’re getting sleepy and pulling off somewhere to rest. The odds are far less that something will happen to you snoozing almost anywhere in your car vs. continuing to try to drive while sleepy. It’s good that you’re aware of how your body responds to driving and aren’t trying to push through it like some people try to do.</p>

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<p>Honestly, I take naps in my car all the time (and I’ve done it for years), and it’s never occurred to me that it might not be safe. I’m in a parking space, I have the doors locked, the windows down an inch or two, and my cell phone hooked up to the hands-free. What exactly are you thinking might happen to me? </p>

<p>When the kids were very little and I couldn’t get them to nap, I used to drive around until they both fell asleep, then pull over and we’d all nap for half an hour or so. Never had a problem. To this day, put my kids in the car and they go out like a light (if they’re not driving).</p>

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<p>Wasn’t Michael Jordan’s father car-jacked and killed while napping at a rest stop on I-95 in Virginia?</p>

<p>I’m not a scaredy-pants, but I have pulled into comparatively quiet rest stops to take a nap when driving alone at night and just felt REALLY uncomfortable. Since it rarely happens, I listened to it and drove on.</p>

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<p>I should add that once I get this little ‘nap’ out of the way, which will definitely be during the daylight hours, I am usually fine the rest of the way. So this ‘rest’ will be during daytime. If it so happens that I feel I can’t make it in one day on the way back, I would realize that at nighttime and definitely pull over and get a room somewhere. This is a silly, middle-of-the-day siesta.</p>

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<p>Maybe there is a friendly CC friend in the city or area that you will need to take a rest in who could let you sleep in their house/driveway? Can you give us a hint as to the area you will be need to stop in?</p>

<p>(After Michael Jordan’s father was killed resting at a truck stop, I have been pretty leery of sleeping in rest stops.)</p>

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<p>In my opinion, I would take two days each way with a one night overnight in a motel. Then, if you feel you get sleepy after a couple of hours of driving, is it that you really need a nap or that you need to get re-energized to not be so sleepy? One way to not get sleepy is to stop every two hours some place to walk around, get a bite to eat and so on. It may not be sleep that you need but simply a break so that you don’t feel so sleepy behind the wheel.</p>

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<p>MOWC - I’d forgotten about the Walmart thing and RVers. Also, the idea of a police station would be good, too. Since my GPS has everything on it, it would be easy for me to find one. Of course, I’d go in and ask them first before doing it. But I could also feel so safe and cozy in the police station’s parking lot that I’d sleep for hours!</p>

<p>Have to add, I have done this before - meaning having a little snooze in a parking lot. It’s been quite a while, but if I have to be somewhere really early for work that requires driving an hour or more (which used to happen quite often), and had to get there very early, if I arrived early enough, I’d set the alarm on my cell phone and close my eyes. We’re talking about nursing home parking lots and similar places. Sometimes I could only rest my eyes for ten minutes, but it would actually help, and the alarm is set just in case I accidentally fell asleep.</p>

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<p>I think the parking lot of any Mormon temple would be pretty safe…</p>

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<p>Having never heard of the James Jordan murder (1993), I googled it and up came this story: [Crime</a> lab errs in Michael Jordan’s father’s murder case - ESPN Chicago](<a href=“Transfer Talk: Man Utd want Bayindir to compete with Onana - ESPN”>Crime lab errs in Michael Jordan's father's murder case - ESPN) which casts some doubt on the whole case.</p>

<p>However, I also googled “rest stop murder” and came up with zero murders in rest stops in the last few years. </p>

<p>I agree with those who say they wouldn’t stop at rest stop if it felt creepy–but really, I stop at rest stops every few hours whenever I drive anywhere, and have never felt threatened or worried in any way. I am traveling with my dogs most of the time, and they do make an excellent early warning system if anyone comes too close to the car.</p>

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<p>teri…are you taking the turnpikes? If so, how far OFF of them do you really want to travel if you are on a “schedule”. The rest stops ON the turnpike (where the food and gas are located) should be fine for your quick siesta during the day. You probably won’t be the only sleeping person in your car.</p>

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<p>ellemenope - too bad they’re aren’t as many of them as there are some Protestant and Roman Catholic churches!</p>

<p>I like the ideas, though… keep them coming.</p>

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<p>thumper1 - will be on Indiana and Ohio tollroads, so yes, the rest areas along there are very accessible. But if anyone suggested they wouldn’t be safe, I’d take one of the exits around a larger town and find a strip mall parking lot or something similar (fast food parking lot?).</p>

<p>Truthfully, I am more worried about Indiana/Ohio because my travels through those areas will time perfectly with my tendency to hit the wall (meaning the time I’ve been on the road). By the time I get to PA, I should be past the drowsies and be OK, and it’s I-80 in PA that is the most rural part of the trip. On the return, yes, I will be in PA in the rural areas when my eyes first get heavy, but it will be daylight hours. </p>

<p>BTW - I am the only one in the family who has not made this drive by myself, much less in one day. It’s very doable if I can pass the hump. I have XM radio on the way there (might try some talk radio) and my iPod on the way back.</p>

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<p>What is it about napping that makes you feel more at risk? Is the feeling someone will sneak up on you? Or you appear more vulnerable so someone will try to open your car? </p>

<p>The reason I ask is as I was trying to think of solutions for you, it occurred to me that I’m not sure how napping in your car would be more risky than say, if you pulled into a rest stop to use the bathroom and get a coffee. Or you were walking a park alone during the day. Or struck in traffic and waiting for a light in towns you are passing through. Or pulled into a Walmart, waiting to pick someone up. Stuff happens everywhere, but it’s random and rare (you are far far far less likely to be hurt napping in your car than driving this long distance). </p>

<p>I think so long as it’s during the daytime, and you are in an area with people, the odds are as remote you will be in danger napping in a locked car, as they would just going about your life. </p>

<p>If I had to choose, it would be a busy MacDonald’s or fastfood parking lot. Ah cross post- i suggested McDs when you did.</p>

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<p>Actually I do think you are more vulnerable when taken by surprise as you’re being woken up than if you’re just sitting in the car. I guess living in the Chicago area for the last umpteen years, I’ve heard so many stories of cars being stopped at a traffic light and robbers walking up to your window with a gun and demanding your purse… or your car. One non-negotiable behavior that is often mentioned when educating people on how to be safe is to always know your surroundings and be aware of what’s going on around you. That ain’t going to happen if I’m sleeping.</p>

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<p>I’ve slept at Sonic more than once - with a crying baby that finally passed out (dmd77) and on long trips. They’re usually close to an exit and employees are walking around all the time. I have never been woken up or asked to leave. I do buy something first.</p>