The 24 Hours
If you're short on sleep and driving this afternoon, eat lightly. It's no substitute for sleep or a break.
Midday on the Swiss plateau, small fields between hedgerows and rows of trees, a farm near the road. People eat, and in the afternoon they drive. In a simulator two lunches were compared, a light one of 305 calories and one of 922 with three times the fat: for the first half hour there was no difference, then lane drifting increased after the heavy meal. They were twelve young men who had slept five hours. In this study the heavy lunch deepened the sleepiness that was already there.
Details 56 s · 9:16 · four languages · generated images, voice and music, declared as such · 2026-09-19 · Drive Awake
It is not a ban and it is one thing only: if you are driving this afternoon, a light lunch is the choice that costs least. Sleep debt remains the main factor, and that is recovered only by sleeping.
It's noon. People are eating. Then the longest part of the day begins.
The western plateau, between the Broye and the Gros-de-Vaud: small fields divided by hedgerows and rows of trees, a farm near the road, a wood closing the view a little further on. This is the hour when people stop to eat, and the afternoon of driving has not started yet.
Watch this passage (0:00) →In a simulator, two lunches were compared: one of 305 calories, one of 922.
The study compares two lunches before a long, monotonous drive in a simulator. It is not a comparison between eating and not eating: it is between a light meal of about three hundred calories and one of over nine hundred.
Reyner 2012 · DOI 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.11.025
Watch this passage (0:08) →
For the first half-hour, no difference. Then the heavy lunch caused more lane drifting.
The effect is not immediate. In the first half hour the two conditions look alike; only afterwards, with the heavy lunch, does the car begin to wander within the lane more often.
Watch this passage (0:17) →
They had all slept just five hours. In this study the heavy lunch deepened the sleepiness already there.
The limit of the study is stated: twelve young men, the previous night cut to five hours, in a simulator and not on the road. It applies to people who have already slept too little, and says nothing about those who slept well.
Watch this passage (0:26) →
No one thinks about the afternoon over lunch. But that's when you still have a choice.
People who drive for work eat in the middle of the day, not before a day out. Midday is the last moment when the choice is still easy: later, at the wheel, the only option left is to stop.
Watch this passage (0:35) →The corrections made to this text, with their date, their reason and the lines they touched.
Three hours already online go back into the edit, and the lines corrected after their first release go in with them. At 1 pm the review says the dip «can come» even without lunch, as the source puts it, and the closing line names an action: plan a stop between one and three. The page adds a source from real driving, Horne and Reyner 1995, with its limitation. At noon the two lunches get their numbers, 305 and 922 calories. At 11 am George Zisa's English lines go in, together with the French and German corrections that were still waiting. The new lines were reviewed blind by two judges per language.
Lines touched FR line 4, DE line 4
The same lines you see in the video, side by side. This is where the gaps between languages show: a turn of phrase that does not hold, a word out of place, a figure that changes weight. If you find one, the button next to the line opens the report with hour, language and minute already filled in. All episodes on one page →
line 1 0:01
IT
È mezzogiorno. Si mangia. Poi comincia la parte più lunga della giornata.
FR
Il est midi. On mange. Puis commence la partie la plus longue de la journée.
DE
Es ist Mittag. Man isst. Dann beginnt der längste Teil des Tages.
EN
It's noon. People are eating. Then the longest part of the day begins.
line 2 0:09
IT
In un simulatore hanno confrontato due pranzi: uno da 305 calorie, uno da 922.
FR
Sur simulateur, on a comparé deux repas : un de 305 calories, un de 922.
DE
Im Simulator wurden zwei Mahlzeiten verglichen: eine mit 305 Kalorien, eine mit 922.
EN
In a simulator, two lunches were compared: one of 305 calories, one of 922.
line 3 0:18
IT
Per la prima mezz'ora nessuna differenza. Dopo, con il pranzo pesante, aumentano le sbandate.
FR
La première demi-heure, aucune différence. Puis, avec le repas lourd, les écarts de trajectoire augmentent.
DE
Erste halbe Stunde: kein Unterschied. Dann, mit dem schweren Essen, mehr Spurabweichungen.
EN
For the first half-hour, no difference. Then the heavy lunch caused more lane drifting.
line 4 0:27
IT
Tutti avevano dormito cinque ore. In questo studio il pranzo pesante ha aggravato la sonnolenza che c'era già.
FR
Tous avaient dormi cinq heures. Dans cette étude, le repas lourd a aggravé la somnolence déjà présente.
DE
Alle hatten fünf Stunden geschlafen. Hier verstärkte das schwere Essen die vorhandene Schläfrigkeit.
EN
They had all slept just five hours. In this study the heavy lunch deepened the sleepiness already there.
line 5 0:35
IT
Nessuno pranza pensando al pomeriggio. È il momento in cui si può ancora decidere.
FR
Personne ne déjeune en pensant à l'après-midi. C'est le moment où l'on peut encore décider.
DE
Niemand denkt beim Essen an den Nachmittag. Es ist der Moment, in dem man noch wählen kann.
EN
No one thinks about the afternoon over lunch. But that's when you still have a choice.
line 6 0:43
IT
Se hai dormito poco e nel pomeriggio guidi, mangia leggero. Non sostituisce il sonno né la sosta.
FR
Si tu as peu dormi et que tu conduis l'après-midi, mange léger. Cela ne remplace ni le sommeil ni la pause.
DE
Wenig geschlafen, am Nachmittag am Steuer: iss leicht. Das ersetzt weder Schlaf noch Pause.
EN
If you're short on sleep and driving this afternoon, eat lightly. It's no substitute for sleep or a break.
A question about this hour · 12:00
When you know you will be driving in the afternoon, does anything change about your lunch? If so, what?
There is no right answer: we are interested in the experience of people who drive, including for work.
The conversations happen on our channels. When there is one about this hour, we will link to it here.
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This episode is online. If something feels off, a word, a figure, a detail in the image, tell us below: two lines are enough. We read everything, and every correction goes into the diary, with its date.
We read every message. If it becomes a correction, the text changes here on the site and goes into the episode's diary, with its date and its reason. Corrections already made →
2026-09-19 · Drive Awake
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