A 55-year-old Richland man was seriously injured Saturday morning after he fell asleep behind the wheel on U.S. 54 near the Blue Springs Creek Bridge in Miller County, sending his 2004 Chevrolet Malibu careening off the road, into the air, and down into a creek. The crash happened around 9:50 a.m., and no other vehicles were involved.
The man was operating the Malibu when he fell asleep while driving, according to krcgtv.com, which also reported that the Missouri State Highway Patrol noted he was not wearing a seat belt during the incident. The outlet pinpointed the crash site and time, placing it at 9:50 a.m. on U.S. 54 near the Blue Springs Creek Bridge.
Car Went Airborne Before Landing in the Water
Per a crash report cited by centralmoinfo.com, the Malibu ran off the left side of the roadway, struck two road signs, hit a guardrail, struck another road sign, then went airborne, hit the ground and rolled into the creek. The same report indicates the driver was transported to Lake Regional Hospital by Lake Ozark EMS in serious condition.
KOMU 8 also covered the crash, reporting that the man was driving eastbound on U.S. 54 near the Blue Springs Creek Bridge when the incident occurred, and that Highway Patrol Troop F responded to the scene, according to KOMU 8. The station's report, written by digital content producer Max Quinn, noted the vehicle sustained extensive damage in the crash.
No Other Vehicles Involved
The crash was a single-vehicle incident, as confirmed by abc17news.com, which attributed its account of the crash to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report. That outlet reported that no other vehicles were involved in the wreck near Blue Springs Creek Bridge.
Falling asleep at the wheel has led to other serious crashes across central Missouri in recent months. In Boone County, a driver who fell asleep caused a crash that injured two people, according to komu.com. A separate crash in Audrain County also involved a Mexico driver who fell asleep behind the wheel, causing the vehicle to overturn, per centralmoinfo.com's earlier reporting.
Details on the Miller County crash were drawn from a Missouri State Highway Patrol report. The state's crash-information system, searchable through the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site, notes that the information it posts on motor-vehicle injury and fatal crashes investigated by the Highway Patrol is preliminary and automatically generated, and does not include crashes investigated by other agencies.
