By any standards sleep deprivation causes more accidents and deaths

Ummm... I must question that statement.

A very quick google search brought up the following, which seemd to match up with my recollections:

Alcohol-related highway fatalities increased in 2002. Of all the deaths on the highways, alcohol caused 42 percent or 17,970 deaths, up from 17,448 in 2001.

Are you really suggesting that sleep deprivation causes [at least] 43% of all highway fatalities, leaving all other highway fatalities to account for the remaining 15%?

The above 42% statistic applies to the U.S., perhaps things are different in other countries.

tanstaafl.