No different than if you’re drunk.
Recently a cop ran off the road near here and killed two bicycle riders. He say’s he fell asleep. So! Is that an excuse? If you’re that sleepy, you know it. Especially a cop should know better.
Grrr.
mangeorge
Well it’s a little different in that often you start to feel sleepy after you have already started driving and it’s something you have no control over whereas you should know before you get in the car or not whether you have been drinking.
Umm… I agree? 
I think you start to feel sleepy long before you get to the “fall asleep” stage.
If you have no control over sleepiness, you have an illness that needs treatment.
I work with people who brag about “only needing a few hours”, and yet they nod off in meetings and sometimes any time they stop moving.
If you are driving and start to feel sleepy, and you have no control over it, it is, most times, entirely possible to stop the car. Pull over on the side of the road, in a gas station, into a random person’s driveway, whatever. I can’t imagine anyone struggling with falling asleep while driving can’t stay conscious enough to accomplish even that! Get out, walk around the car, get back in. If that doesn’t wake you up, then stay put and close your eyes for 5 minutes. Better late for whatever you’re driving to than dead on the highway (or worse, IMHO, having killed someone else because of your stupidity).
Yes. If you are falling asleep at the wheel, you are impaired, and it is your responsibility to get off the road until you are fit to drive. Nothing you are going to is important enough to risk it. Even if you are a cop.
Error
Do you have a cite to this story?
I think that this is the story that mangeorge is referring to:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/15/BAFJVKPDS.DTL
Here’s a week old story I found with a quick search.
I gotta go, but I’ll post a more recent cite when I get back if no one else does.
Being drunk is more of a choice than being sleepy is - or than being sick, having a heart attack, being born with poor reflexes, and so on.
I agree drivers generally have some awareness of being sleepy and some ability to make a choice not to press on. However, it is in the very nature of sleep to occasionally be a somewhat insidious trap. I’ve never fallen asleep driving, but I’ve fallen asleep in meetings and been embarrassed when the rest of the room pokes me and laughs when I jump. I’d have to feel somewhat sympathetic for a driver that fell asleep, in the absence of stupid behavior (like, say, betting somebody he can drive 48 hours without falling asleep).
Just being sleepy to the point of falling asleep, doesn’t belong with those other conditions you mention. Medical conditions, lack of good sleep, medications, and all that are generally something you would be aware of and can deal with.
If you get plenty of sleep, and still nod off in meetings, there’s something wrong. And it’s not the speaker. 
I’m a light sleeper. I think it’s because I’m way overweight.
Yeah, though I’d give more leeway to younger drivers who may not have as much idea of their tolerance (funny how the same argument doesn’t work for alcohol). I did a whole lot of driving very early on in my driving career, and would drive lots of places sleepy. However, it only took one instance of falling asleep long enough to begin leaving the road to have my brain say “OK, this is the limit where you feel sleepy enough that you shouldn’t be driving.” Now I know pretty well exactly when to pull over and nap.
It doesn’t take much of a nap. Just doze off, and you’ll usually wake up when the need passes. And you’ll be surprised how much better you feel, all around.
I completely agree with the OP, and I’ll add prescription and over-the-counter medications to that. Driving is an extremely serious task, and if you aren’t able to drive competently because you are over-tired, drunk, or zoned out on meds, you simply don’t have the right to drive. I don’t want to be killed or seriously injured or have any of my loved ones killed or seriously injured because YOU weren’t mature enough to know when you shouldn’t be driving.
Moving thread from IMHO to MPSIMS.
mangeorge needs to carefully study the meanings of the words “opinion” and “pointless”.
He really does.
Peace,
mangeorge
Japan treats people who falls asleep or is otherwise impaired. They also put people in jail for causing fatal accidents being impaired. Drunk drivers who kill people can count on at least several years behind bars.
Guess what’s on “60 minutes” tonight?
Lemme guess: stuff I read in science magazines 6-18 months ago. That’s usually a safe bet.
Or maybe something about sleep and driving.
Could be. And it could also be something that most people on this board really know nothing about.
Is that a bad thing? Teaching?