Carcolepsy: Falling Asleep on the Road

Have you ever been driving in the middle of the day, and all of the sudden you feel yourself drifting to sleep? You just can't help yourself and you start worrying that you won't be able to keep yourself awake, (and we all know you won't pull over because you're too "macho" for that). Certainly, for some it's just impossible for them to fall asleep in a car or any other moving vehicle, but others (when they're not the ones driving) will pass out like a babe and wake up once they've reached their destination. So, what is the cause behind this almost uncontrollable need to fall asleep on the road? And how can we hold it off to make sure we arrive at our destination safely? We talk with Professor Sarah Blunden, academic researcher, clinical psychologist, and head of pediatric sleep research at Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University to learn more about why we fall asleep on the road and what we can do about it.