the image of industrious folk who rise early, work hard till late, and have no time for the lazy luxury of a good night's sleep, invokes much more positive and high-status associations

Like so many other status-related "explanations" this strikes me as a just-so story with no actual predictive power and no ready base of facts to check it against. For instance, the sayings in France "la France qui se lève tôt" (the early rising part of the country) and "la France d'en bas") (the bottom tier) are nearly synonymous in political discourse. It's hard to see that as a high status association.

Cracking down on drunk driving is easy to rally support for because - just as you said - doctors check for blood alcohol levels every single time a crash sends someone to the hospital. Facts are readily enrolled in support of the cause, whereas they remain more obstinately neutral in the case of non-professional fatigue.

This IMO is a much more fruitful line of inquiry than "status" if you're genuinely interested in explanations for the dynamics of "hybrid" controversies where both nature and society play significant roles. I've found the writings of Bruno Latour a clear and effective antidote against simplistic thinking on such issues (see his The Berlin Key for a series of short pieces that illustrate his approach). Some of his stuff is apt to give Alan Sokal a smug smile, I'll grant, but more of it is quite incisive.