States crack down on 'driving while drowsy' [View All]

States crack down on 'driving while drowsy'
The Associated PressPublished: February 16, 2007

ALBANY, New York: U.S. drivers who fall asleep at the wheel are the latest target of state lawmakers who want to make roads more safe.

Driving-while-drowsy is a deadly and underreported cause of accidents, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found. Sleepiness increased by four to six times the driver's risk of a crash or near-crash, the agency said in its April report with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

Some lawmakers are paying attention. So far this year, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky and Massachusetts have introduced bills to fight sleepy drivers. But New York has been the busiest, introducing more than a dozen drowsy driving bills since 2003.

The latest New York bill would define driving while drowsy as driving without having slept in 24 hours. The first offense would carry a $500 (€381) fine, but further convictions and more serious accidents could carry sentences of up to three years in prison.
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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/16/america/NA-GEN-US-Driving-Drowsy.php