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Should NH prohibit “drowsy driving”?

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Roughly 41% of drivers have done it, according to a survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: fallen asleep at the wheel. An even higher percentage report having operated a motor vehicle while fatigued. Estimates of the role that fatigued driving plays in car accidents vary, but studies have shown that driving without having slept for 24 hours impacts performance in a manner similar to a blood alcohol content of 0.08% - legally drunk in most states.

This evidence has led for calls to legislate against “drowsy driving”. In Maine in 2015, a bill that would have made it a criminal offense to operate a vehicle after being without sleep for 24 hours was ultimately killed in the Senate.

So far, only two states have actually passed laws relating to drowsy driving, and those have been limited to cases where fatigued drivers cause a fatal car accident.

There has been no attempt to pass a ‘drowsy driving’ law thus far in New Hampshire.

Opponents of such legislation argue that it is extremely difficult to enforce, making police officers responsible for proving just how long a driver has been awake. Others point out that some people are required to drive while fatigued because they work multiple jobs, late shifts, or suffer from insomnia or other sleep disorders, and that getting to work should not be made a criminal act for such individuals.

However, supporters counter that driving while fatigued is a genuine danger on par with driving while intoxicated, and that there should be no excuse for endangering lives. They also maintain that even if the law is difficult to enforce, passage would help raise awareness of the issue and encourage fatigued drivers to “stop and sleep” or seek other methods of transportation.

UPDATE: Read our Citizen Voices℠ report and find out where New Hampshire stands on this issue.

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