Drivers behaving badly - sleeping vs drinking?

[Louis]

This is related to some of the discussions we have here. Click on link to read what they each have to say.

NYT Debate (http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/25/should-drowsy-driving-be-illegal?hp)

[rounder]

My father in law was killed at an intersection because a 15-year old without a license and without permission was reaching under the dash to change a CD (not paying attention) and drove through a red light and into him broadside. Incapable people should not be driving. Who cares what the reason is.

[cachagua]

Did the 15-year-old pull through?

What about the 15-year-old, in Madison Square Garden, hands tied, coated in honey, vs. a hive of fire ants. Presented without commercial interruption.

I mean, I agree 100%, incapable people shouldn't drive. Shouldn't do a whole bunch of things you could name. But it's problematic to determine beforehand that they're incapable... best we have is the empirical method: put 'em in the driver's seat (in elected office, in Wall Street, in parenthood, you name it) and see if they're capable or not.

Then we just have to decide what we do once they've proven they're incapable. And there's a LOT of room for imagination there!

Think: a quite modest tax on televised torture could pay off the national debt in a BIG hurry.

[rounder]

I do not know for sure, but believe the boy was not badly hurt.

[oldpotatoe]

This is related to some of the discussions we have here. Click on link to read what they each have to say.

NYT Debate (http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/25/should-drowsy-driving-be-illegal?hp)

Not sure what the point is. If asleep, then the driver is negligent, period. If they are tired enough to fall asleep, they need to stop. If they do not, unless they have a condition like narcolepsy, they are negligent. If they have narcolepsy, un treated, they are negligent.

If negligent and driving, it does fall under the criminal justice system. Being asleep doesn't somehow remove the driver from any responsibility. Criminal intent or not. They have the responsibility to be 'fit' to drive.

Signed
-Cyclist hit from behind on July 6, 2002 at 10:30 on a Saturday morning by a woman in a P/U truck, asleep...gambling all night in Blackhawk-no drugs or alcohol.

[rounder]

Sorry about the accident. Glad you are ok.

I am not all that concerned about riding around in regular traffic. I am more concerned about the yahoos riding around in pickup trucks yelling at me to get off the road, people in cars who do not know how to drive, etc.