Driver falling asleep results in head-on crash west of Turlock, CHP reports
Though it was foggy, that wasn’t a factor in a major-injury crash Tuesday morning on westbound West Main Avenue east of Carpenter Road, between Turlock and Patterson, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Rather, the injured driver told officers he was tired, fell asleep and veered into the opposite lane.
The head-on crash occurred about 4 a.m.
John A. Williams III was driving west on Main in a 2003 Acura TL, going about 55 mph, the CHP said. When he fell asleep, he drove into the path of an eastbound 2013 Peterbilt truck driven by Jaime Melgoza, 49, of Atwater.
The left front of the Acura struck the left side of the Peterbilt and both vehicles came to rest in the lanes of traffic.
Williams, a 20-year-old Patterson resident, suffered facial lacerations and a possible broken left ankle. He was taken to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.
Melgoza was not injured, the CHP reported.
The CHP’s online Traffic Incident Information Page said Williams was pinned in and the crash left debris on the roadway, including a tire that was hit by a semi truck, which then pulled over.
Because fog affected visibility, eastbound traffic was diverted onto Carpenter Road until the vehicles were cleared.
Neither the fog nor alcohol or drugs factored in the crash, the CHP said.
This story was originally published December 24, 2019 at 11:25 AM.
