November 5. 1999
iidr :
e Battalion
o PINION
Page 7 • Friday, November 5, 1999
nee
e drowsy drivers delinquents?
(AP) — Tom Lai!:
iirmed yesterday
is Cowboys coadj
remission in his
/; Radiai Drowsy driving should be
g ineffect' prosecuted like drunken driving
I Tnm I O
YES
In the wake of
tragedy one
la!ways hopes
em1 ?' a ., fcson can be
ly released a sta * medsothe
.dry was m not
Medical CenterK e p eate( j.
his stage of treatft^^,, the
b e to infection. | dents ot Toxas
e has not yet gonf| M have re .
the . tarnih iponded to fatigue-related traffic
hat the treatme ^cidents with honor,
u, the statement■'n ie outpouring of support and
Cowboys quart impassion in the wake of multi-
hach was quo-jie fatigue-related fatalities involv-
as saying Land n g students in the past year has
ed to chemothei thg healing process,
hoped. M^he Student Senate’s Lupe
, 5, has been Medina Bill has succeeded in pro-
tice May for acute -noting awareness of fatigue-relat-
kemia, known a traffic accidents among college
owed in Augu- ;tudents across the state.
? had at least .■tt owevei -these actions are not
the stage of tem» )U gh to completely deter drowsy
but that more idvers from taking responsibility
necessary. ; 0 J their actions,
vspaper said Lar| ![) eS pite ongoing awareness ef-
he Cowboys to forts, the U.S. Department of
appearances ai ftansportation reports that Texas
as too weak to a:: leads the nation in fatigue-related
st week at wh accidents. More disturbingly, the
ch were honored National Sleep Foundation indi-
hievement award; pales 72 percent of drivers between
a is a cancer in the ages of 18 and 24 have admit-
diite cells prolfeted to driving drowsy at least once,
narrow, crowdinfMobviously, this is a serious
od cells. Other ortpibblem, a problem with a scope
liver, spleen or mirroring that of drunken driving,
ght stop functio in a Department of TYansportation
infiltrated by the-study, only drunken driving acci
dents outnumbered drowsy-driving
accidents in 1998. But for some
^ ^ -atrange reason, criminal law views
I / iLdrunken driving and drowsy dri-
1/jying very differently.
J x From a strictly legal perspec
tive, there should be little distinc-
ijaon between driving drowsy and
iving drunk.
In both cases, there is a clear
display of gross negligence. A
Hunken driver has a choice Lae-
forehand not to drink excessively,
|| have a designated driver or to
(AP) — Troy Aitonot drive at all. A drowsy driver
ving headaches, thas a choice beforehand to sleep
absorbing a helmet
,v, but said heexpy
in time to play Mon-
st Minnesota,
te to say right»
nitely would notp
finitely
y," the
aw boys
k said
UVI
-eels to- 1
e field
more, to have another driver in the
car or to pull over when he or she
becomes drowsy.
But when drunken drivers kill
on the road, they are charged with
vehicular manslaughter and sub
ject to fines and prison terms.
Drowsy drivers, on the other hand,
are let off the hook.
Why? The current defense is
that there is no intent by a drowsy
driver to injure anyone, therefore
clearing them from any criminal
wrongdoing. But the same argu
ment can be used to defend drunk
drivers, and yet they are subject to
criminal charges. This complex set
of legal contradictions makes very
little sense.
Naturally, this legal paradox has
caused a great deal of frustration
and confusion within the law-en
forcement community.
During one episode of the tele
vision program “COPS,” patrol offi
cers are shown pulling over an ex
tremely disoriented and dangerous
driver from the highway.
At first, they thought he was
drunk but soon found out he was
sleepy and exhausted. The driver
was incoherent and dipped in and
out of consciousness during their
interview.
The shocking thing was that
since he was sober, there was no
legal reason the officers could de
tain the driver.
The officers grudgingly released
him from custody, and the driver
continued to swerve down the
road, endangering himself and oth
ers. As they drove off, the police of
ficers made clear their dissatisfac
tion with how the law essentially
tied their hands in this matter.
Luckily, these police officers
were able to identify the driver’s
fatigue easily. The New York De
partment of Motor Vehicles Web
site states that “police reported
crash data underestimates the
scope of the problem because the
involvement of fatigue is difficult
to detect.” This shows existing
numbers about drowsy driving are
lower than they really are, meaning
it could possibly be a much larger
problem. The Website further as
serts that in 1994, New York law-
enforcement officials reported 25
percent of drivers had fallen asleep
at the wheel, with 55 percent hav
ing driven drowsy.
To effectively prevent the
tragedies of the past year from hap
pening again, drowsy driving must
be made a crime along the lines of
drunken driving.
NO
Driving tired not criminal,
should not provoke legal charges
C oncerns
regarding
drowsy
driving have
been brought
to the fore
ground since a
Texas A&M
University
freshman fell
asleep at the wheel on FM 60, re
sulting in the death of six people
and the injury of two.
JESSICA
CRUTCHER
There is a clear obligation, since
the legal parallels with drunken
driving are undeniable. Most im
portantly, it will give drivers some
thing to think about once they start
nodding off at the wheel. Only
then will something truly be
learned from tragedy.
David Lee is a junior
economics major.
ROBERT HYNECEK/The Battalion
The accident occurred when
the driver fell asleep while head
ing home after dropping off his
girlfriend. His Ford Ranger veered
onto the shoulder and struck
eight pedestrians who were walk
ing to a Tau Kappa Epsilon party.
The students had parked on the
shoulder of the road and were
preparing to cross the highway to
reach the fraternity house.
The accident has raised the
question of whether people who
engage in drowsy driving should
be charged with a crime. Some
argue they should be because
driving while extremely tired has
been paralleled to driving drunk.
However, enforcing this sort of
legislation is both impractical
and unfair. Instead of wasting
energy punishing someone who
was unfortunate enough to fall
asleep at the wheel, thereby in
juring themselves or others,
more practical solutions to the
problem should be found.
There already have been ef
forts to help prevent drowsy-dri
ving accidents. For example,
some motels have agreed to offer
discounted rates to sleepy college
students driving long distances.
However, this only applies to
those sleepy drivers who still
have a long drive ahead of them.
Drivers such as the one in the
Tau Kappa Epsilon accident do not
fit into this category — he was
less than 15 minutes from his
dorm when the accident occurred.
According to the National Sleep
Foundation, 80 percent of people
working rotating shifts or regular
evenings admit having driven
drowsy within the past year.
These people are not exhibit
ing the negligence of a person
choosing to continue an eight
hour drive despite overwhelming
exhaustion. They simply need a
way to get home safely, without
having to worry about getting
into an accident.
The best solution would be
the addition of rumble strips on
highway shoulders. The noise
made when a vehicle drives over '
these strips would be sufficient
to awaken most, startling them
enough to keep them alert for the
rest of a short drive.
Admittedly, it is impractical to
put rumble strips along every
stretch of highway in the nation.
It would be most logical to
place them in areas where
pedestrians are most likely to be,
as well as along the populated
areas of highway.
If there had been rumble strips
along FM 60, they would have
probably awakened the driver in
time to lessen the seriousness of,
if not prevent, the accident. The
noise would also have quickly
alerted the pedestrians of the on
coming vehicle.
Prevention is the only practi
cal way to avoid drowsy driving
accidents. Drowsy driving legis
lation would be nearly impossi
ble to enforce. There is a legal
method to prove levels of drunk
enness. In the state of Texas, the
blood alcohol content limit is
.08. In contrast, there is no way
to legally prove someone is too
sleepy to drive.
In addition, sleepy drivers are
not guilty of the same “mali
cious intent” as drunken drivers.
Most people realize that after
drinking a case of beer they
should not try to drive. Doing so
is a conscious decision.
However, it is much more diffi
cult to know when one is too ex
hausted to make the 10 minute
drive home.
Leaving the judgment call to
the police is just as impossible.
The police cannot be given the
power to say for sure whether a
person is unfit to drive due to lack
of sleep. By this policy, a person
could be pulled over for swerving
and ticketed for drowsy driving
when in fact they were simply
sneezing or avoiding a pothole.
Although drunken driving and
drowsy driving are comparable,
they cannot be assigned the
same set of rules. Drowsy drivers
are not guilty of the same negli
gence or reckless intent as drunk
drivers. Although in theory pros
ecuting drowsy driving sounds
like a good idea, in practice it
would be a disaster.
Jessica Crutcher is a sophomore
journalism major.
Students should
;o to Silver Taps
MAIL CALL
■ lAs I stood at Silver Taps
fuesday night remembering
i fellow Aggie, I became
jdisheartened when I real-
zed that only a dwindling
AilSipumber of Aggies stood
ly com-
n make
is that
ying. I’ll
1 prac-
ek and alongside me.
?adaches stop.” I did not know the Aggies
said he will worwho were being honored, but
without regard t hat was not required. To
?e what happens, stand at Taps is to honor a
■comes a problemfiend and a member of your
f,” he said. “But I Aggie family,
hat.” |lt occurs to me many peo-
h the team has able may not understand why
g Aikman’s injuft matters if they attend or
i, he discussed it jot, but to look into the eyes
what happened if a parent who is remem-
buried him ona iering his or her child, while
early in the father students are standing
'f a 34-24 los'heir to honor the parent’s
is Sunday. He m on or daughter, helps to ex-
then returned. ,| a j n the true meaning of Ag-
ielspirit.
please let this be an en-
ouragement to all of you to
ut aside excuses and to
ke 30 minutes out of a
esday night to honor a fel-
)w Aggie.
e: Omaf
i be site C
2 tournf
Melissa Lebo
Class of ’01
i. Neb. (AP),
of Nebraska’s atlL . . .
w yesterday iw frimesters harm
ilds a convention^|. , ,
arena because it 5l5D StUd6VltS
t at playing host to
ketball tournament’ response to Caleb Mc-
■ already has its >aniel ’ s Nov - 3 column.
? Pepsi Center),’
id at the Big As a former teacher in
held weekly r ysn Independent School
ootball fans in Orn’istrict, I feel qualified to corn-
new arena, it Ihent on McDaniel’s column
’oing to go in bout the trimester system.
Pexas,” Byrne sail While I agree that not hav-
build a new on'g statistical data about the
ebraska, too, becffects of the trimester is
is that we’d realhause for some concern, it is
zhampionships atcidely known that statistics
ence as these ne«
open.”
can be used to support ei
ther side of any issue, BISD
consistently claims policy
and procedure changes are
for the benefit of students.
However, consider the re
alities of the trimester.
Under the trimester sys
tem, teachers only teach
four class per day.
Who wouldn’t want that
rather than six classes
every day?
“Worksheet teachers”
love the trimesters be
cause there are fewer pa
pers to grade.
But I assure you that is
the only redeeming quality of
the trimester.
Students might have a
teacher for as little as 12
weeks. That is not long
enough for teachers to get
to know the students, which
is critically important in the
learning process.
In a two-trimester course,
a year’s worth of information
is taught in about 22 weeks,
accounting for exam weeks.
Take a look at the re
quired state curriculum, and
one notices that a “relaxed
workday” is not possible
during trimesters.
There are many schedul
ing options besides the
trimester or the seven-peri
od day.
It is interesting to note
that all of the school dis
tricts that were studied be
fore Bryan High School
adopted the trimester have
abandoned it also.
Sure, we can wait to see
how the trimester works in
the long run.
But how many students
are going to graduate from
BHS under this miserable
system in the meantime?
Susan Whisenant
Graduate student
Atheist reacts
to intolerance
In response to Peter Chal-
fant’s Nov. 4 mail call.
In today’s politically correct
society, there are some
things one should not do.
Would you tell a black man
the virtues of being white?
Would you tell a woman men
are better? Would you brag
about how great it is to run to
a person confined to a wheel
chair? No, of course you
wouldn’t. So why would you
tell a Jew (or anyone at all) it
is better to be a Christian?
I am well aware the Christ
ian doctrine encourages
Christians to “spread the
faith,” but I don’t think that
requires demeaning other be
lief systems as flawed, cor
rupt or wrong. Such a thing is
highlyjudgmental.
As an atheist, I have re
ceived more than my share of
religious intolerance. I’ve
been told I must “open my
eyes” so I can “see the light.”
Well, my eyes are open,
and all I see is people stereo
typing each other. If that is
what “seeing the light” brings,
I’d rather stay in the dark.
Leigh Berggren
Class of ’03
Women serve long prison sentences
for self-defense, while assailants go free
The Battalion encourages letters to
the editor. Letters must be 300 words
or less and include the author's name,
class and phone number. The opinion
editor reserves the right to edit letters
for length, style, and accuracy. Letters
may be submitted in person at 013
Reed McDonald with a valid student ID.
Letters may also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
T ime for a
quick quiz: 1.)
A woman has
just been murdered.
Is her assailant
most likely to be (a)
a stranger, (b)
someone she has
known a short time,
or (c) her male-sig
nificant other?
2.) Jane Doe is in prison for murder.
Is she most likely to have killed (a) a
stranger, (b) a friend or acquaintance,
or (c) her male significant other.
Unfortunately, the answer to both
questions is (c).
Female murder victims are most
likely to be killed by their signifi
cant others, and female murderers
are most likely to kill their signifi
cant others. For instance, over half
the women imprisoned in Georgia
for murder in 1992 killed their sig
nificant others.
Seventy-five percent of these
women had been abused by the per
son they murdered, while two out of
five killed their victim in self-defense.
But here is the kicker.
According to Safety Net's Website,
of the men who killed their signifi
cant other, most serve prison sen
tences averaging two to six years,
while women who kill, even after
suffering years of abuse, spend an
average of 15 years in prison.
There is something seriously
wrong here.
Given the same circumstances, it
seems reasonable to expect two peo
ple convicted of the same crime to
receive similar punishments.
There is supposed to be equal jus
tice under the law.
If one criminal receives a harsher
penalty, one would think that there
were extenuating circumstances that
made the crime somehow more de
serving of punishment.
But there is an entire group of fe
male offenders with the small crimi
nal records who routinely receive
and serve harsher sentences than
men who commit the same crime, of
ten for less understandable reasons.
Why the big difference?
One reason could be that men
control the criminal justice system.
This fact may also explain why
the situation has not changed in the
last 10 years, but it hardly seems
likely it is intentional.
On the other hand, it might be an
easy problem to ignore, especially if
no one pushes the issue, and the par
ty with control is not hurt by the in
justice.
But identifying who controls the
criminal justice sys
tem does little to ex
plain the fact that
women who kill in
self-defense spend a
longer time in jail than
men who kill while
battering — much
longer. If logic held,
the situation
HI
K
would be re
versed. /V
It is impor
tant to under- i / # j-
stand that there
are essentially
two systems
— one for
men and
one for
women.
Because there are
more male offend
ers than female,
the men’s system suffers from chronic
overcrowding.
When prisons fill to capacity, the fa
vored immediate solution seems to be
early release programs.
The result is murderers are being
released early to make room for the
MARK McPHERSON/The Battalion
steady influx of drug dealers and oth
er criminals. Meanwhile, women
serve longer sentences because there
is room for them in the system.
Females who acted violently
against abusive boyfriends and hus
bands spend years in prison while
their male assailants are released on
early parole.
Any person with good sense
should be frightened by this idea.
What about the issue of justice?
Should women contin
ue to serve longer
sentences?
Consider
that as many
as one in
three
women in
the United
States will
be the vic
tims of do
mestic violence
and among the
women serving time for murder and
manslaughter, the percentage is
much higher.
These people ought to be up in
arms, but they are not. The simple
truth for many of these women is
turning to the criminal justice sys
tem failed.
Most who were the victims of
abuse called the police for help re
peatedly. For some, 15 years is mere
ly the price they must pay for being
the last one standing in a game of .
kill-or-be-killed. It
may seem better
than what they left.
Considering who is get
ting out of the men’s system, they
may be smart. At least behind bars
they are safe.
Ann Hart is a senior
English major.