[swissknife]

Originally Posted by studentonwheels

+1 to the 'No sleeping if you're riding shotgun' rule. Someone needs to be awake to keep the driver company or ensure he's not drifting off to sleep or speeding/driving rashly. Sleeping in the rear seat is perfectly acceptable as long as you are buckled in. I make sure all passengers have their seat belts on. I rarely sit in the passengers seat, even more rarely in the rear, hence the answer 'Rarely'.
Also, I never lend my car to anyone else unless I'm too tired to drive, which is highly unlikely. I feel most comfortable in a car when I'm driving myself.

How does one do a (-1)?

Personally, I have no issue if anyone or even all passengers in the car that I am driving go to sleep. My eyes and ears are on the road and around me. At best, I may prefer to have some music going on. That's it. I suppose those who prefer not to sleep with others are driving are probably being a bit paranoid or don't trust another person's driving skills or ability to stay awake and drive. But then, that's just my personal opinion and need not be true for a majority

[livetodrive]

When I am driving, it does not matter what fellow passengers are doing unless its very disturbing. Similarly, when I am not driving, if the driver is giving me enough ride comfort through his driving skills and car ambiance, I may sleep in the car. So, voted for 'sometimes'.

It mostly happens in cabs because of several obvious reasons. The car is not mine, I do not strike a conversation with every cab driver and many times I am stuck in traffic. Then, best way to pass time is....

[Mortis]

Normally Im a bit of an insomniac and a light sleeper but when Im a passenger in a car and others arent too chatty and the trip is more than 15 minutes I can fall asleep very easily ! Its really strange, even with the bumps and noise

[Leoshashi]

Never, mainly because of couple of reasons:

1. It distracts the driver.

2. It feels like I have handed over my life to someone. In fact I always prefer to be on the driver's seat, so that I am responsible for my life. For the very same reason, I avoid being the pillion rider on someone's bike. I cannot remember the last time I sat behind anyone on a bike.

Having said that, I do trust some people with their driving, but never try to sleep during the drive.

Regards,
Shashi

[Indianstorms]

Depends, if you know that the person driving the car is a good driver then you can afford a good power nap. On long drives its good if you get a good 20 ~ 30 min nap. It refreshes you when your turn to drive comes.

[RGK]

I voted for "sometimes". It depends on the driver. Some of my friends drive more cautiously and prefer to take a nap when I travel with them. I never sleep when I travel with my family in a cab.

[vinayrathore]

Never. Firstly, 99.9% if I am in a moving car, i will be driving no matter whose car it is (baring the cabs ofcourse). As SS-Traveler said in the opening post, I feel too vulnerable if the car is not driven the way I would want it. Only two of my friends who I trust blindly drive my way and I can sleep peacefully with them driving.

PS: I am yet to sit in the back seat of my cars.

[Aditya]

I don't take cabs often. If I do, it's only for short distances. No question of sleeping then. Otherwise, if I am in the passenger seat, it's generally with someone who I know drives decently. If I am feeling sleepy, I make full use of this time.

I've been on very long drives, which included more than three days of non-stop driving except for food and natural breaks. Obviously, I had co-drivers (good friends and very good long distance drivers) who would sleep when I was driving and vice-versa. Neither of us was ever distracted by the other ones sleeping.

I use whatever time I get on other modes of transport (railway / air) to sleep.

[ACM]

My take is that one should not sleep on the front seat but can do so on the rear /middle row bench.

The person on the front seat has the job of keeping the driver alert and to back the driver up in case of any errors on the part of the driver.

I rarely feel safe in the hands of other drivers but there are some such persons whom I feel comfortable with and can actually take a power nap while being driven by them.

Taking a nap or even an extended sleep is important if one if doing long journeys and is going to be the replacement driver from time to time.

I have myself driven 12-16hrs on certain days and even a 15 min nap while someone else is driving makes a world of a difference.

[GeneralJazz]

Voted rarely. Its more to do with motion sickness than trust. I suffer from a mild form of motion sickness. Travelling in a car/bus is impossible without stemetil/nausetil. I have no problem when I am in the driver seat (10+ hour continuous drives on ghat sections barely faze me), but as soon as I get into the passenger seat, I go greener than the Hulk

That being said, trust is the second biggest reason I wouldn't take a nap as a passenger. Most guys I know, I wonder how their parents even trust them with a car. The number of people I would blindly trust, is small enough to be counted with one hand.

[luvDriving]

I can rarely sleep in any moving vehicle, be it a personal one or even public transport. The few times that I may have had a quick nap was only because I was dead tired and I could not keep my eyes open.

As a passenger in a personal car, if I am sitting in the front seat then I assume that I am sharing half the responsibility of driving. Of course I do not do backseat (or side seat) driving, not even with the wife in the driver's seat. Keeping a lookout for unseen and hidden dangers is my job along with doing sundry jobs like changing the music, keeping a/c levels up or down, attending phone calls, asking for directions, google maps navigation, holding out chips for the driver, keeping a lookout for road signs, managing the toll and keeping a lookout for good hotels.

On the contrary, if I am driving then it makes no difference to me if the passengers are sleeping or not. Rather I prefer to stick my eyes and ears to the road and traffic.

[roby_dk1]

I never sleep while travelling specially inside car. Usually I am the one who is driving and hence there is no option left for me to sleep. Anyways I need a bed to sleep else I can't close my eyes. Adding to this I hate people who sleep in my car. I keep on poking them and try hard to keep them awake. Playing loud music talking to them frequently are few of them.

The worst moment was when we went Australia few years back I was the only one who didn't slept in flight. Almost all passengers were sleeping and I was roaming here and there inside, listening to music and watching movies whole time.

[DCEite]

I am someone who can never ever sleep in a car as a passenger.

Heck, i find trouble sleeping in an airplane, even during long hauls (even if i badly want to sleep). Maybe its my personality (Type A ??), or anxiety, but i can never ever sleep as a passenger in any vehicle - be it a car or a bus or train or a plane.
Poor me. :(

[SJM1214]

Voted Sometimes.

I am always worried when I'm not at the wheel. I trust a few people at wheel. I always sleep when these " few people" are driving. When I am not with these few people, I can't sleep. This happens in taxis and long distance buses.

[VKumar]

I have voted - rarely

That said, I had a wonderful chauffy before I got into PGDM and will prefer to hire him back, even if I have to pay 1.5 times the market price after I am out of the college. Normally I just can't sleep with someone else driving, I don't feel very comfortable. It's only my chauffy with whom driving, I used to sleep for even hours at times in the rear seat. Actually we frequently used to undertake long drives and we both used to share the wheel, the rule was simple: the one who will be sleeping, will have to sleep in the rear seat and the driver can anytime wake the other guy up.

Rest I personally prefer to have all my passengers sleeping during the night drives, it makes me drive in a very relaxed manner with full concentration and pin drop silence in the car - absolutely zero disturbance.

What I do to keep me awake? I just try to drive as sedate as possible that there is no jerk etc that can wake my passengers up, I roll down the window for a second or two at times or take minor tea breaks. Rest it normally happens that all passengers sleep hardly for half an hour or so, else someone is awake most of the times.