Asleep at the Wheel Wreck

A Wilkesboro man was injured this week in a one-vehicle accident when he fell asleep at the wheel.  In a report filed with the Wilkesboro Police, Donald Ferguson was traveling east on Hwy 421 when his car went off the road to the left.  The vehicle traveled about 255 feet and then collided with some fence posts.  The car went another 4 feet and hit a utility pole guide wire.  The car went up the wire and rolled over.  Ferguson told police he had fallen asleep at the wheel.  He was taken to WRMC by Wilkes EMS.  Damages to the car are estimated at 20,000 dollars with 600 dollars in damage to the fence and utility pole.  Ferguson was charged in the wreck with failure to maintain lane control.  According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America poll, 60% of adult drivers – about 168 million people – say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third, (37% or 103 million people), have actually fallen asleep at the wheel! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses.