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Deadly effects of drowsy driving
highlighted, Panel to weigh solutions
By Catherine Williams November 1, 2007…Mindful that an estimated 90 people a year die on Bay State roads because of sleep-deprived drivers, lawmakers want prevent more deaths and injuries. But the ability to bolster laws and punish drowsy drivers hangs in part on a 14-member commission that is stalled because of lingering appointments. Maj. Robert Raneri, a United States Army reservist, was killed while driving his motorcycle in Ayer on June 26, 2002 after a head-on collision with a 19-year old driver. The driver later admitted to police that he had not slept in 24 hours. Raneri was 37 at the time of his death and a week away from his wedding. Raneri left behind his fiancé, who was pregnant at the time of his death and later gave birth to a baby girl. Raneri’s mother, Janet, told the News Service the most important thing she wants lawmakers to do is to change the law so that drivers who kill someone while falling asleep at the wheel are charged with vehicular homicide instead of vehicular manslaughter, which is a misdemeanor. “This legislation will not help our family but I hope this legislation (will make it so) another little girl will not have to grow up without her daddy,” said Janet Raneri. Sen. Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge) is sponsoring the bill (S 2072), also known as Rob’s Law in memory of Raneri, that would charge sleepy drivers who kill with vehicular homicide. Moore’s bill would also establish a public safety campaign and increase training for new drivers. “It’s a culture change from thinking falling asleep isn’t a crime. But when you kill someone it should be,” said Moore. In 2006, lawmakers passed a sweeping teen driving bill that featured tougher tests, driver’s education requirements, and penalties for young drivers. Under that law, the Special Commission on Drowsy Driving was established and charged with studying the role of sleep deprivation in accidents, developing driver’s education curriculum and determining how existing laws can be changed to punish drowsy drivers. Gov. Deval Patrick has yet to name three appointees, one of whom must be a victim, to the commission. The House has also yet to name its three appointees. The Senate named Moore, Sen. Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) and Sen. James Timilty (D-Walpole). Other commission members include the secretary of transportation, the registrar, and the president of the Massachusetts District Attorney’s Association, according to Moore. The commission is set to report findings by December 2007 but Moore told the News Service the commission needs a one-year extension. State officials have already updated driver’s education curriculum and testing to include sleep deprivation and driving information. And sleep deprivation-related crashes are down 45 percent from 2,400 crashes in 2002, according to Anne Collins, Massachusetts Registrar of Motor Vehicles. “We’re making progress,” said Collins. In recent years crash reports filled out by state troopers at the car crash scenes have featured a place to note sleep deprivation as a cause of a crash, said Dana Pagley, a sergeant with the Massachusetts State Police. But it is difficult to determine sleep deprivation as a cause of an accident, said Pagley. Evidence is easier to gather on drunken drivers, for example, he said. Studies on sleep deprivation-related crashes are collected from police reports and surveys, according to sleep experts. And studies show that drowsy driving is deadly. More than 2,000 sleep-related crashes in the United States – and 600 in Massachusetts – cause serious injuries each year, said Charles Czeisler, professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School. Nationwide, sleepy drivers cause the deaths of 9,000 people annually, according to a 2006 Institutes of Medicine study. In Massachusetts, said Czeisler, an average of 90 people die annually in sleep deprived-related crashes. For instance, one quarter of the vehicular deaths in Massachusetts in 2005 – a total of 442 deaths – were caused by sleep-deprived drivers, said Czeisler. Illinois, Kentucky and New York are debating proposals to upgrade drowsy driving statutes to place penalties under reckless homicide laws and New Jersey lawmakers have passed a comprehensive drowsy driving law. Moore, Collins, and Luisa Paiewonsky, commissioner of Massachusetts Highway Department, declared Nov. 5 through 11, 2007, Drowsy Driving Prevention Week during a ceremony in Nurses Hall this morning. Read the complete article at statehousenews.com [subscription required] |
