3 ms·
It's not as though we can derive some hard cutoff on how little sleep is clearly negligent. We're talking about wide ranges and tolerances for different people
by dionidium 10y ago
It's not as though we can derive some hard cutoff on how little sleep is clearly negligent. We're talking about wide ranges and tolerances for different people in different circumstances.
We're in the same situation with alcohol -- how much before you're actually impaired? -- but most states have responded to that reality with laws that prohibit driving after drinking almost any alcohol at all.
Are you sure you want a similar situation with respect to your sleep?
- ccvannorman 10y agoI stayed up working until 5 am (I was on a roll). Should I be afraid of driving now? I'm not tired at all. Welcome to the future, where if your habits are abnormal big data can land you in jail for it.
- closeparen 10y agoYes. If it is your habit to stake other people's lives on your subjective opinion that you don't need sleep to be a safe driver, despite evidence to the contrary, those other people have every right to deter and punish your choice.
- Thrillington 10y agoSo we can stake the punishment on subjective limits on required sleep? Blood alcohol provides a quantifiable measure of impairment. Sleep trackers don't even come close to measuring sleep well enough to provide a single number to use with a threshold.
- TeMPOraL 10y agoGiven that I don't know of a single driver actually obeying the rules about mandatory breaks for long-distance travel, yes, I'd definitely want a similar situation with respect to sleep. There is something weird about driving that makes most people feel they're smarter and better than everyone else, so they can ignore traffic laws at their discretion. That attitude costs quite a lot of lives every year.
- toast0 10y agoCommercial truck drivers can have their log books inspected at weigh stations, if they haven't had the required rest (or don't have a logbook), they have to stop and stay off the road.