On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:53:48 -0500, thunder
wrote:

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:36:24 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports wrote:


The problem with these kinds of news reports is that you don't know what
prompted the investigation initially. It might have been an open
container - there may have been visual or verbal clues - could be
anything. I was stopped once after a 24 hour shift when we had a rash
of medical incidents and I was the only available medic - I had maybe
half hour of sleep or so and was stopped on the way home - I guess I was
less than driving a straight line. Everything came back negative, but
the cop was still suspicious, but he called the Chief and he explained
the situation - he came out, I parked the car and the Chief took me home
from there.

You just can't have an opinion based on incomplete information.

Times may be a-changing. Here in NJ, we have Maggie's Law, which allows
sleep deprived drivers to be charged with vehicular homicide if any one
is killed because of a drowsy driver. There have been studies
demonstrating that people who have been awake for 24 hours are impaired
to the same level as someone with a blood alcohol level of .10. Which
raises all sorts of interesting liability issues:

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news...8/12/31404.htm

Believe me - I know from sleep deprivation and driving. Ashamed to
admit it, but it's true.

And I think it should be treated the same as drunk driving - the
results are the same.