Drowsy driving report suggests stiffer penalties, coffee

Ah, OK now... one can measure BAC with a blood test or Breathalyzer... if we give police the power to use capricious and arbitrary standards to pull people over,they are declaring another war on the individual.

Sure, drowsy drivers are a hazard but so are the elderly, teens, speeding cops during a chase, our Senior Senator.... but how does one define "sleepy"? Melatonin blood tests?

Uhh . . . really there Sherlock? This is what our legislature is doing with their time? Seems like this Senate committee should've hired Captain Obvious, he could've taken care of this study in no time! And as a resident physician, we ARE limited to 80hrs a week already so I wouldn't spend too much time trying to legislate that one! On a serious side, though, I can't imagine how there's any way to enforce a "no drowsy driving" law. What is the officer going to do, check the size of the bags under your eyes for proof? Silliness, people, just silliness. Driving is a dangerous task and there's no way to legislate around that. Be defensive out there and be safe, but things like this are fuss about nothing.

I used to think nothing of driving straight through to California from Boston (my little brother would spell me for 30 minutes every twelve hours) and I now feel quite fortunate to have survived my youth with no accidents. Now I wouldn't dream of driving while fatigued. But as a frequent motorcyclist, I can see, as clear as day, alcohol-impaired drivers, smoking-impaired drivers and cell-phone impaired drivers. While the latter two groups seem to amount to well over 20% of the traffic in my commute, and to drive much more dangerously than the alcohol-impaired group (who fortunately are not present at 7AM), I haven't seen any effective movement to control them. When will something be done? I have been struck by cell phone drivers while bicycling, and while motorcycling - they simply have no hearing, no side visibility, often no steering control and cannot pay attention to the road. Smokers appear less dangerous - they oscillate a few feet to either side, and speed-up/slow down by plus or minus 10 mph as though on opiates, but one can deal with such variations.

When I was in college at RPI, my psychology professor was developing a field testing program of hand-eye coordination and reaction time to test the ability of a person to drive. We researched the effects of alcohol on human performance, and the next step was to test sleep deprived people. That kind of thing would be the perfect solution for testing drivers for impairment rather than an alcohol breathalizer.

this is absurd. everyone on the road is tired at the end of the day. this is way too open to interpretation and proposing a ticket for it is just another way to screw the average driver to raise ticket revenue.

Why not begin with incessant cell phone drivers, who, while perhaps awake, are in another world.

The medical profession and media need to employ a massive public information campaign about this problem. After being in several minor accidents while drowsy, I had a friend who was a registered nurse tell me point blank that I should stop driving until I was tested for a possible sleep disorder. Shocked by her advice, I was evaluated at a sleep clinic and diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I now use a CPAP apparatus when I sleep and I've never slept better...and don't experience drowsiness while driving

Great,..something else for police to hassle us with. It's bad enough that police pull people over for "reasonable suspicion", which could mean almost everything and anything they feel entitled to. Here's an idea....instead of bothering motorists.....lets get the police to do their job and check more trucker's log books?! You want to see sleep deprived drivers....look at truck drivers. They drive long hours, don't sleep much, usually on caffine pills to keep them going and their long books aren't always up to date. In the 7 years I've lived on the Noth Shore, I've never seen the inspection stations open on 95. I NEVER see cops pull truckers over!

How much money got wasted on this useless study?

Sounds like Senator Moore found a way to repay a bunch of his friends by appointing them to a "study" commission.

It's this kind of nonsense that emphasizes the need to make our legislature like the those in the majority of states; PART-TIME!

Perhaps people should talk on their cell phones while driving. That would keep them from falling asleep, and would probably reduce the chance of an accident.

While I have heard of no good way to define or enforce against "drowsy", we do need to figure out a way to limit the number of collisions that are clearly no accident due to an impaired driver in some way or another.

Any driver that is impaired.....sleepy, seizures, diabetes, hypoglycemic, meneire's disease....whatever....if drivers are not taking care of themselves, testing their levels, taking the correct dosage of meds, eating and sleeping enough hours....if a driver with any impaired issue that KILLS someone then they go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.00.
RIP Patrick J Smith 12-5-2007
Killed by Diabetic Driver who admitted to not taking care of himself and Wilfred Lebeau never even got a ticket, What is wrong with this picture? Alot!!!!

Here's a better idea: Let's give the citizens of this state the right to pull over and ticket all the moron cops and officials who come up with these ideas. We could solve Devil Patrick's budget "crisis" in about a month with all the extra revenue.

It might sound great on paper and yes tired drivers are a danger.
A few things to consider:
A drunk driver is drunk when pulled over and will still be drunk after arrested.
A tired driver may appear tired but once pulled over they will most likely be wide awake with fright of being arrested. With no test of fatigue where will the line be drawn? Throw drivers in prison because they yawn or have an eyelash stuck. Throwing people in prison with NO proof is a violation of rights. If this passes don't be scared of tired drivers. You could be next......Prison!
Trevor

this is ridiculous . adults are the ones with a drivers liscence. as far as over the road drivers with the absense of unions for work protection these drivers need to stay on the road to make money . the only way to protect workers is to UNIONIZE Americans used to be the best paid and proud to work for companies now companies care only about the bottom line and not about the employees

What's next chewing gum DCG? Making rest areas to promote good driving is a good thing but to enforce? Come on... Do u wanna hire even more cops for this? Put even more fear to taxpayers(who by the way are their boss)? How have police strayed from what they used to be? I too am seriously brain washed to fear police for no reason and they to me are the lawless hypocrite pitbulls that WE should be enforcing. Is this truely a country that we have invaded others to impress upon?

if it will be illegal to drive and yawn than soon i wont be able to drive and fart who votes for these pinheads

I think that we need to think about, not just the focus of this legislation, but also the quirky ways they have invented to combat drowsy driving. Essentially, we are helping Dunkin' Donuts sell coffee and pharmaceutical companies sell sleep medication? That doesn't sound like a responsible solution to me.

My brother was killed December 2007 by an impaired driver. He was an insulin dependent diabetic who did not take his insulin as directed (check sugar lever, administer the correct amount of insulin with a full meal, recheck his blood sugar level, check sugar level prior to driving...) and went hypoglycemic. If this man had taken his medication as a doctor and the manufacturer directed, had eaten a full meal, had checkec his blood sugar level before turning the key to his truck THEN MY BROTHER WOULD BE HERE TODAY. There is absolutely no excuse anybody will give me that excuses his behavior OR anybody elses for not taking every precaution possible to ensure they are as alert as possible to steer a several thousand pound vehicle around. If you are not willing to take responsibility for your own wellbeing then you better be willing to take responsibility for me.

Impaired driving is just that IMPAIRED DRIVING and I applaud the senate for recognizing the problem. On any given day, 'Google diabetic accident' or 'impaired driver' and you will be alarmed at the number of news reports about this problem. It is a problem just as serious as drunk driving and innocent people are paying for it with their lives.

Michael Smith
My brother Patrick J. Smith was killed 12/5/2007 Mansfield, CT