In Reply To:
We're all taught (or so I think)... if we're driving along day or night and are tired (and can't make it to our destination), we should pull over and get off the road, right?Sleep until we can continue without causing harm to other drivers and ourselves.... etc...
So, if this officer was so tired and couldn't keep his eyes open, why didn't he pull over and get off the road? Why did he keep going? He had to have known well before dozing off that he was coming close to having to close his eyes even for a second.....
--------------
I think that the thought process would go something like this:
"I'm tired and I need a nap."
"I'd like to pull over and take a nap, but I'm at work. "
"I don't want to get fired. "
"Oh yeah, remember in briefing a few weeks ago where Bob got chewed out by the Sargent when a citizen saw him sleeping on the side of the road? "
"Must stay awake."
"Only another hour or so until lunch..."
I get tired at work also. I really wish I could take a nap, but then I don't want to get fired either so I drink coffee or something. If I fall asleep at the keyboard the nobody is going to get hurt, so I've got that going for me. But the cop is a strange situation where the right thing is also the wrong thing. It would have been the right thing to pull over and take a 10 minute cat nap. It would have saved two lives and not ruined his life. But I can see the perceived pressure that to pull over and sleep is a bad thing.
Think of it this way. How would 99.99% of the public react to seeing a cop car pulled over with a sleeping driver in it? They would be pissed about their tax dollars being wasted, etc. They would think he was lazy, not that he was tired and trying to avoid an accident.
The cop made a huge mistake. He made some poor choices, but I think it was all subtle, slippery slope kind of stuff. I suspect that he is a good person who was just trying to do his job. He made a small miscalculation that had enormous consequences. Now two innocent people are dead, his life is ruined and many other innocents were greatly affected. I think that a majority of people have made similar choices and were just luckier than the officer. Not that he doesn't need to pay for his mistake though. Not by any means...
As a side note, I've read some stuff that claimed there are statistics that say the days immediately after the time change have much higher accident rates. The officer's 6am shift was really a 5am shift on his body clock so he was already down one hour of sleep compared to normal.
Kevin
http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com My Strava