rest area vs. arrest area

Describes the "pleasant versus unpleasant" quandary that you face when making a road trip on a budget. The D.O.T. may indeed instruct you to "never drive while drowsy", but good luck explaining that to a cop with a quota who taps on your car window at 2 a.m. in the morning to find out why you're parked along a deserted stretch of highway to sleep till dawn.

One simple way to avoid the whole "rest area vs. arrest area" debacle is to simply schedule your sleep-stops around the available "official rest area" locations that are situation along your route... sure, it may take a bit longer to complete your journey if you hafta "call it a day" at 5 pm instead of at nightfall because there will be no other rest areas for another hundred or more miles, but at least you can slumber in peace, knowing that you aren't parking somewhere overnight where you might be given grief.