Police: Sleepy drivers crash

Firefighters clean up debris at the site of a Wednesday morning crash on U.S. 29 near the Route 3 interchange. Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Corey Byers said Michael Crews of Elkwood was northbound when his Toyota Tacoma drifted off the road and crashed into a disabled logging truck that was parked on the shoulder of the highway.

By: Star-Exponent staff | Culpeper Star-Exponent
Published: March 18, 2010

Authorities say two people who apparently fell asleep behind the wheel escaped serious injury Wednesday morning after being involved in separate car accidents.

In the first, reported around 8:21 a.m., Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Corey Byers said an Elkwood man may have dozed off, causing a crash that shut down northbound U.S. 29 for more than an hour.

Byers said Michael Crews was northbound on the highway about 500 feet south of the Route 3 overpass when his Toyota Tacoma pickup drifted off the roadway. The pickup struck a tractor-trailer logging truck that had broken down and parked on the shoulder.
The Toyota was totaled, but neither Crews, who was the only person in the pickup, nor the logging truck driver were seriously injured. Byers said deputies cited Crews for reckless driving.

In the second crash, reported around 8:50 a.m., Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Les Tyler said an unidentified driver was not injured after a single-vehicle accident on U.S. 15.

Tyler said that driver also fell asleep and the vehicle left the roadway, hitting an embankment just south of the Madison-Culpeper County line.