What if I tell you it’s really about drinking? Not alcohol though. but about your water intake. A study [1] shows that when drivers were dehydrated, they only made 47 minor driving mistakes. But when they were dehydrated, 101 mistakes were made, which is doubled. Such number is similar to that under the influence of alcohol. The study was done at Loughborough University, in which participants were given 200 ml of fluid every hour, and only 25 ml on the dehydration test day. When we are dehydrated, fatigue will come and put you in a state of mental fog – and if you are not mentally alert while driving, this can lead you to make many minor, or god forbid, major driving mistakes. A bout of dehydration-induced drowsiness can make you nod off at the wheel, while general confusion can make you miss important turns or highway exits. Studies have proven that human error is probably the cause of more than 90% of the crashes and traffic incidents in the world – being dehydrated compounds those errors since it makes you confused and foggy at a time when you need to be mentally alert.[2] To stay hydrated, always have a bottle of water in your car and take a sip often. Also, avoid caffeine and colas as they make you expel water.
