SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 51

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

Joseph J. Carraro

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO STUDY THE ISSUE OF DRIVING A MOTOR VEHICLE WHILE DROWSY.

     WHEREAS, drowsy drivers are as dangerous as drivers who are impaired by alcohol or drugs, annually accounting for at least one hundred thousand automobile crashes, forty thousand injuries and one thousand fifty fatalities, according to the national highway traffic safety administration; and

     WHEREAS, the crash, injury and fatality statistics underestimate the true level of harm caused by drowsy drivers because daytime crashes, multiple-vehicle crashes, alcohol-related crashes and other categories of crashes are not included; and

     WHEREAS, thirty-seven percent of drivers have nodded off for at least a moment or fallen asleep while driving at least once and eight percent had done so in the last six months, according to a survey sponsored by the national highway traffic safety administration; and

     WHEREAS, unlike measuring a driver's blood-alcohol content, it is difficult to measure a driver's level of drowsiness, which has the potential to make enforcement of laws against driving while drowsy difficult; and

     WHEREAS, it is in the public interest that New Mexico's laws, court decisions and public education efforts regarding drowsy driving be examined in an effort to determine the best manner in which to prevent drowsy driving;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of transportation be requested to study the issue of drowsy driving and to make a report of its recommendations, if any, to the appropriate legislative interim committee prior to October 31, 2005; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of transportation.

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