Although no official statistics exist to say exactly how many road accidents are caused by driver fatigue, Gary Ronald from the Automobile Association South Africa estimates that it is responsible for “more than half of all single vehicle crashes.”

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In South Africa there are no laws against drowsing and driving. However, should your nap harm or endanger yourself or property of any kind or break on any traffic laws, you could be charged with neglectfulful, reckless or inconsiderate driving. If someone is harmed or killed, you can be charged with manslaughter or culpable homicide.

Says Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, a spokesman for Metro Police: “Each case is different and the circumstances surrounding the accident are taken into account when a sentence is laid out. Someone caught sleeping behind the wheel can be fined or even sent to jail (depending on the circumstances).”

Global problem
Drowsy driving isn’t unique to South Africa. For example, it kills more than 1 550 people and injures 71 000 each year in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which estimates there are 100 000 sleep-related crashes a year.

Although studies have found that the condition is nearly impossible to stave off without a caffeinated beverage or a nap, a surprising number of people are ignorant of the dangers.

"A lot of people roll down the window and turn on the radio when they get tired," said Darrel Drobnich, a spokesman for the National Sleep Foundation. "That's like saying: if I'm hungry, if I roll down the window I won't be hungry."

The foundation says 60 percent of drivers have driven while drowsy in the past year, and 20 percent, or about 32 million people, admit to having actually fallen asleep behind the wheel.

“Maggie’s Law”
New Jersey is the only US state with a drowsy-driving law. "Maggie's Law" is named after a 20-year-old college student, Maggie McDonnell, who was killed by a drowsy driver in 1997. The driver admitted to being awake for 30 hours after smoking crack cocaine.

His lawyer successfully argued that there was no law in the state against falling asleep at the wheel. The judge barred the jury from considering the driver's sleep deprivation as a factor in the crash. He was fined $200.

Maggie's mother, Carole McDonnell, worked with her state lawmakers to pass the law, which makes drivers liable for vehicular homicide if they have driven after being awake for 24 hours. The law, passed in 2003, has a penalty of 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

So far only one person has been prosecuted under Maggie's Law. And the number of sleep-related accidents hasn't diminished: in 2003, there were 2574 crashes caused by drowsy driving, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. In 2006, there were 3,143 such crashes. - (Reuters/Health24)

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