['The objective of this study was to investigate if a verbal task can improve alertness and if performance changes are associated with changes in alertness as measured by EEG.', 'Previous research has shown that a secondary task can improve performance on a short, monotonous drive. The current work extends this by examining longer, fatiguing drives. The study also uses EEG to confirm that improved driving performance is concurrent with improved driver alertness.', 'A 90-min, monotonous simulator drive was used to place drivers in a fatigued state. Four secondary tasks were used: no verbal task, continuous verbal task, late verbal task, and a passive radio task.', 'When engaged in a secondary verbal task at the end of the drive, drivers showed improved lane-keeping performance and had improvements in neurophysiological measures of alertness.'] Does a strategically timed verbal task improve performance and neurophysiological alertness during fatiguing drives?