Police: UPS truck driver fell asleep prior to crash on I-95 in Delaware

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Friday, June 27, 2014
VIDEO: Police say driver fell asleep
Police say a UPS driver fell asleep behind the wheel before crashing.

NEWPORT, Del. (WPVI) -- Delaware State Police investigators say the driver of a UPS tractor trailer had fallen asleep at the wheel prior to crashing on I-95 in Newport Friday morning.

The crash happened at 4:08 a.m. Friday in the southbound lanes north of the Basin Road exit (Exit 5B).

Preliminary investigation indicates that 45-year-old Phillip Bates of York, Pennsylvania was traveling from I-295 southbound, merging onto I-95 southbound, when the tractor-trailer traveled off of the roadway and onto the right shoulder of the I-295 merge.

The passenger side of the truck struck the guardrail as it continued southbound, before overturning onto its left side and sliding to a stop, crossing and blocking the I-95 southbound lanes.

State police say a 2010 Mercedes Benz sedan operated by 80-year-old Wai Phoon of Berwyn, Pa. was traveling southbound on I-95 when it struck the under carriage of the overturned tractor trailer.

It took firefighters and EMS personnel approximately one hour to extricate Bates from the wreckage.

Truck crash shuts down I-95 in Delaware

Both Bates and Phoon were transported to the Christiana Trauma Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Bates was issued a traffic citation for Inattentive Driving. Delaware State Police are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

The southbound lanes of I-95 were closed for approximately 4 hours while the crash was investigated and cleared. However, all lanes on the highway have since reopened.

Truck crash shuts down I-95 in Delaware
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