July 2nd marks the 10th anniversary of the tragic death of Maggie McDonnell, a 20-year old college student who was killed in 1997 by a man who fell asleep while driving and hit Maggie's car head-on. He admitted that he had been awake for 30 hours after he smoked “crack” cocaine at a local drug house. Yet, because there was no specific law addressing fatigue or drowsy driving in New Jersey at the time, the jury was not allowed to deliberate on the man’s sleep deprivation and his punishment for killing Maggie was a suspended jail sentence and a $200 fine.

Maggie McDonnell was the youngest member of a very close family. She was an extraordinarily social girl, lighting up every room she entered and stealing the hearts of everyone she met. She was an accomplished ballerina - a pair of pink ballet slippers now graces her tombstone. After college, she hoped to become a social worker. Her death left her parents, siblings, and an entire community devastated by grief. “She was my ‘something special’ and now she is my angel that walks beside me,” says Maggie’s mother, Carole McDonnell.

Maggie's Law: From Tragedy Comes Hope
As a result of her daughter's death, Carole McDonnell began lobbying the New Jersey legislature to enact a law that would punish those who kill or injure others as a result of their choice to drive while tired. On June 23, 2003, Carole's efforts finally paid off when the New Jersey State Senate passed "Maggie's Law," establishing fatigued driving as recklessness under the state’s vehicular homicide statute.  The law narrowly defines “fatigue” as being without sleep for a period in excess of 24 consecutive hours.

More States to Follow New Jersey's Lead
Under Maggie's Law, anyone causing a fatality after being awake for 24 hours or more can be prosecuted for vehicular homicide. Currently, a number of states are considering similar drowsy driving legislation, including New York, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Oregon, Kentucky, and Illinois. To learn more about pending legislation that addresses drowsy driving, visit www.drowsydriving.org and see NSF's online chart of state bills on drowsy driving.

Drowsy Driving is Common among Americans
The results of NSF's 2005 Sleep in America poll suggest that sleepiness does not prevent most Americans from getting behind that wheel. According to the poll, 60% of adult drivers – about 168 million people – say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third have actually fallen asleep at the wheel.

The combination of fatigue and driving is a dangerous one. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year, resulting in an estimated 1,550 deaths and 71,000 injuries. These figures may be the tip of the iceberg, since it is difficult to attribute crashes to sleepiness.

Who's at Risk?
There are a number of groups that fall into the high risk category when it comes to driving while drowsy, including:

• Young people - especially males under age 26
• Shift workers and people who work long hours - working the night shift increases your risk by nearly 6 times; rotating-shift workers and people working more than 60 hours a week need to be particularly careful
• Commercial drivers-especially long-haul drivers - at least 15% of all heavy truck crashes involve fatigue
• People with untreated disorders - people with untreated obstructive sleep apnea have been shown to have up to a seven times increased risk of falling asleep at the wheel
• Business travelers-who spend many hours driving or may be jet lagged

How to Prevent a Fatigue-Related Crash
The best way to prevent a drowsy driving crash is to get adequate sleep on a regular basis. If you're planning a long road trip, be sure that you've had enough sleep during the nights leading up to leaving to decrease your risks. Here are more drowsy driving prevention tips to keep you safe behind the wheel:

• If you feel tired while driving, pull over and find a place to sleep for the night or a safe place to take a short nap.
• Consume caffeine - the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee can increase alertness for several hours. Try consuming caffeine before taking a short nap to get the benefits of both
• Use the buddy system. A passenger who remains awake for the journey can take a turn behind the wheel and help identify the warning signs of fatigue. 
• Take a break every 100 miles or 2 hours. 
• Avoid alcohol and medications (over-the-counter and prescribed) that may impair driving performance and magnify the effects of sleepiness.
• Avoid driving at times when you would normally be sleeping (midnight – 6:00 am) and be aware that you are naturally less alert in the late afternoon (1:00 pm – 4:00 pm)

Increasing Public Awareness
In an effort to reduce the number of traffic deaths and injuries caused by fatigue, NSF is declaring November 5–11, 2007, Drowsy Driving Prevention Week™, a national public awareness campaign about the tragic consequences of driving while drowsy. For more information about preventing drowsy driving, visit www.drowsydriving.org.