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No serious injuries after West Boundary driver fell asleep at the wheel

Midway RCMP warn motorists to stay alert, pull over ‘before it’s too late’
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The hulking remains of a late-model SUV stand where the vehicle came into collision with a clump of small trees Monday evening, March 28. Photo: Submitted

Two Midway women were taken to hospital in Kelowna after one of them fell asleep behind the wheel Monday, March 28, according to Midway RCMP.

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Cpl. Phil Peters said a villager in her mid-30s was driving south on Highway 33 when at around 5 p.m. her SUV left the road three kilometres north of Beaverdell. The SUV, a 2022 Hyundai, drove straight through a slight left-hand turn, cleared the shoulder and then hit a small group of trees around 75 metres from the road.

Peters attended the scene, where the absence of tire marks on the road showed “no indication of any attempt to come to a stop” before the SUV left the road.

Tire tracks beyond the shoulder showed that the vehicle then headed straight for the trees, he added.

The driver told Peters she thought she’d fallen asleep sometime before the collision.

Having ruled out drugs or alcohol, Peters chose not to ticket the driver under the Motor Vehicle Act.

“I think there was enough of a lesson learned here without my adding salt to the wound,” he said.

The driver and her passenger, a Midway woman in her late 50s, were taken for observation at Kelowna General Hospital. Both were released very soon after, having sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Midway RCMP strongly recommend that drowsy motorists pull over at the earliest safe opportunity.

“Do some stretches or go for a little walk — get some fresh air. Don’t wait until it’s too late,” Peters said.


 

@ltritsch1
laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.ca

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laurie.tritschler@boundarycreektimes.com

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