TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey has become the first state in the nation to adopt a law against driving while drowsy.

Under Maggie's Law, prosecutors can charge a driver with vehicular homicide if there is evidence an accident involving a fatality was caused by sleepiness. The law provides for punishments of up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Motorcoach and bus drivers may be particularly vulnerable under the new law because of passenger accusations of driving while sleepy.

The law is named for a 20-year-old college student killed six years ago by a van driver who admitted he hadn't slept in 30 hours. Recent studies have estimated that 51 percent of motorists get drowsy while behind the wheel, and nearly 2 of every 10 drivers say they have fallen asleep while driving during the past year.

While New Jersey is the first state to specifically list going without sleep as a crime, similar bills are pending in New York and have been discussed by lawmakers in Washington state.

Prosecutors across the U.S. already are targeting motorists, including motorcoach drivers, whose inability to stay awake has cost lives.

In May, the driver of an Arrow Coach USA bus taking a church group home from Niagara Falls was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. He admitted gambling and skipping sleep before a crash that killed five people on the New York State Thruway about 16 miles from Rochester.

Passengers reported seeing the driver dozing off just prior to the crash and said he ignored their repeated requests to pull over and rest. (See June 15 issue of Bus & Motorcoach News.)

A half-a-dozen years ago, a Virginia judge sentenced a driver to five years in prison because he fell asleep on his morning commute, killing two people.

Federal regulations allow authorities to penalize commercial bus and truck drivers who violate hours-of-service rules that mandate no more than 10 straight hours of driving, followed by an eight-hour break.

Safety advocates think the New Jersey law will spur prosecutors to pay greater attention to possible sleep deprivation when they investigate accidents. And, it could eventually lead to states cracking down on sleepy driving the way many did against drunken driving two decades ago.