That said, it is irresponsible to drive when one is totally exhausted also, and if they do so with extreme negligence and kill someone because of it then they should suffer the consequences as well. Jury of one's peers...it can be a bitch...cry me a river.
I agree. It is irresponsible to drive impaired, for whatever reason. And if you cause an accident - again, for whatever reason - you should suffer the consequences. But I don't think anyone should be punished for pre-crime. Merely getting on the road increases the risk for every other driver on that road. If you really want to limit risk, we should outlaw driving entirely.
Balance of reason. That's how democracy works (and pretty much every other social system for that matter.) Suck it up...or move to one of the Libertarian or Anarchist micro-nations if you can catch one before it goes defunct.