The United States is a very big country . So , getting from point A to point B can take a lot of time . Most people who live in the U.S . drive cars . So , it should come as no surprise that we have many car expressions . Driving a vehicle is a big responsibility . After all , it is a heavy piece of machinery traveling at fast speeds . So , it is important to stay focused on the road . You should pay close attention when driving . It is dangerous to drive when you are distracted or when you are tired . If you lose your focus , you could cause a crash . The same could be said in other situations in life . And that brings us to our expression for today : to be asleep at the wheel . This expression comes from the idea of someone falling asleep while driving a car . But as an idiom , it means someone is not paying attention or is focused on what they are doing . This can cause all kinds of problems . If I am asleep at the wheel , I fail to see my responsibilities or duties . I am not paying attention to important issues for which I am responsible . We often use this expression to describe a person who is not thinking about possible future problems . It can also be used when talking about a business or government that is not paying attention to problems waiting down the road . Here is an example : The government agency in charge of public health safety was asleep at the wheel on this issue . Here is a workplace example : Gabrielle was supposed to make sure all the contracts were signed by the deadline . But she fell asleep at the wheel and did not get her task done on time . Anyone can fall asleep at the wheel and in any situation . Here is an example from the world of sports . During an important game , the star goalie of the football team was asleep at the wheel . The other team was able to score easily . In these examples , we used the verbs “to fall ” or “to be ” with this expression . Both are correct . And neither one is more common than the other . So , feel free to take your pick ! As we said earlier , this expression refers to someone who has fallen asleep while driving a vehicle . We have a similar expression that relates to someone falling asleep while operating a train . That expression is “to fall asleep at the switch .” Here , “switch ” refers to the controls on the train . Note that “falling asleep at the switch ” is less commonly used . We will stay focused on helping you improve your language skills !