Safe Speed Forums

Red Bull make some impressive claims for their product:

http://www.redbull.co.uk/extras/benefits.jsp

• Increases physical endurance
• Improves concentration and reaction speed
• Improves vigilance

Subjectively I think I drive slightly better after a couple of cans of Red Bull. Is that chemisty or marketing? If it's chemistry, do I really driver better or do I just think I drive better?

Someone is going to ask me: "how is your driving better?" and I don't have the foggiest really - just a percent or two closer to perfection.

I'm quite a big fan of good coffee. A double espresso gives a good wake-up kick, but I don't believe that coffee makes me drive better.

What do others make of Red Bull and driving?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

There used to be a product called "Pro-Plus" tablets. Not seen it fora while - but this was a caffeien based pill - which did pretty much what "Red Bull" does.

It is the mix of caffeine and glucose in "Red Bull" mix which gives the energy kick. Basically it has a stimulant effect - and has not been proven to induce false confidence.

A much better option than an amphetamine - though I think we get the impression we are performing better because of the "wake-up" factor in the drink itself.

Personally find both Red Bull or a really good cup of coffee make me feel "revived" - and this probably makes me feel more alert than normal.

I agree it does make you feel more awake, however it is no substitute for a proper rest, as you are just delaying the effects of tiredness.

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Steve

Won't go near the stuff. Tried it once about 3/4 the way through a long shift truck driving, and was getting the nodding dog syndrome, still a fair way to the truck stop.

I was bouncing around the cab all night, little or no sleep, absolutely cream crackered the following day, I don't know how I got through it.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Er, some people "think" they drive better after a couple of pints of Stella.

Now, I'm not saying Red Bull (or any other soft drink) makes you drive any worse, but any perceived improvement is likely to be entirely psychological, apart perhaps from helping you to keep awake.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Red Bull claims to have "active ingredients" other than caffeine.

They make claims (reaction time, concentration, vigilance) of improvements in parameters that would seem likely to improve one's performance at driving.

Are you guys saying the claims are rubbish? If they are, what about advertising standards?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Didn't take notice much of It Until I tried a can. I was feeling a bit Dozey One afternoon. But It got me through. But as mentioned before, possibly okay for a short term solution, but not rely on It too much.

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

I've only really discovered Red Bull since becoming a student, so I can't say much about its effects on my driving (with no car when I'm at uni.) However, I wil say that its effects on me are extremely varied. Sometimes I can be feeling absolutely knackered at 8pm, then someone will suggest we go out that evening, so I'll have a Red Bull and suddenly be wide awake and have a really great night. Other times I'll have a work crisis on which is going to mean staying up till 4am, and large amounts of Red Bull and coffee just about keep me awake, but not really in a 'working' frame of mind. And other times still (before lectures on more than one occassion!) I'll find that drinking two cans of the stuff has no effect on me whatsoever.

I doubt that it would impair driving, I'm not particularly confident it would improve it either, other than making one more alert than they would otherwise be. But as others have said before me, getting a decent night's sleep and being generally healthy is probably a better way of avoiding feeling fatigued.

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

My cousin's friend was killed (along with the driver, the friend's boyfriend) in an accident in the area. He clipped a verge at a sharp-ish bend on the brow of a hill and rolled the car at a fair old speed. Apparently he had two cans of Red Bull that evening and she thought it affected him in some way.

I DO think that too much might affect your perception of speed and control, but I don't recall the coroner mentioning it.

Here's some ASA rulings on the product:

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications ... n_id=29616
http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications ... n_id=36459

Here is a news article on the safety of RB:
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2004-1 ... ure_p.html

Note that it is banned in France and Denmark!

Gareth

Don't let any of this crap past your lips. I like a nice coffee which is a naturaly occuring substance. Red Bull and all of these other things are full of chemicals. Any substance that gives the human body a high, will ALLWAYS be followed by a low, and that is when you get yourself into the cycle of dependancy.

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'Detritus, get yer stoney arse over ere'

A lot of people use it in rallying events that contain an endurance element such as competing during the night.

As far as I can tell it's basically the caffeine that is the critical ingredient. The problem as I see it is that you are basically just drawing an overdraft on your energy account, and you will later have to pay it back with interest!

So if you want to prolong your activity level into a zone where you'd normally need to be asleep then that's what it will do, but you need to accept that you will get a corresponding (but larger) dip in energy later.

Also there is the addiction issue, plus the possibility of withdrawal symptoms to consider - headaches etc.

When I've competed in events like this I've tended to lean more towards straight Glucose drinks such as Lucozade, and endure the tiredness as best I can, falling back on coffee if I really need to. But I respond badly to overdosing on caffeine - I get very nervous, jittery and restless. So I know that if I abuse my system with it I can more or less write off the following day as I'll be unable to sleep but simultaneously too tired to do anything.

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

I think all drugs are naturally occuring substances. Just as all foods and drinks contain 'chemicals'; in fact they ARE chemicals, even water.

It can also apply to natural adrenaline.

Some of us have stessfull lives/jobs. If I have had a period of stress over several days, afterwards when the bodies adrenaline levels drop I can get stomach cramps...just like going cold turkey...

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Speed camera policy Kills

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1133348.stm

Incidentally when one reads the studies that they do claim to have done, they aren't exactly 95% confidence interval with large samples...

Crikey start taking it easy Gizmo

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'Detritus, get yer stoney arse over ere'

I'm a guy on the edge......

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Speed camera policy Kills

AFAIK, Red Bull has the equivalent caffeine of three large cups of coffee, plus the added effects of the guarana and taurine boosting that further, never mind the sugar.
On that basis, yes, it will improve concentration etc for a while if you are tired , but not excessively so. take it too late in the evening and it is likely to disrupt your sleep patterns somewhat.

I tend not to have much of it, but will take one with me if I think I may be getting tired while driving

I drink it first thing on a Sunday morning before going out for a ride on the motorbike and occasionally on the late night motorway journeys.

The Sunday morning one is to make sure I really am awake.

The late night motorway is to ensure that I remain alert. This only works for about 45 minutes or so. I would not use this on a regular basis as I think you become desensitised so a single can will not do you have to use 2 then 3 etc.

Safespeed if you are drinking two cans at a time then this might explain why you are always on-line in the middle of the night.

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tanj There Ain't No Justice