Highway 69 crash caused by driver falling asleep, charges laid
Highway 69 crash caused by driver falling asleep, charges laid
A 24-year-old driver has been charged after falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into guardrails on Highway 69 in the French River area, police say.
Officers were called to the single-vehicle collision just after 4 p.m. on Saturday, Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release Tuesday morning.
"Preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle was traveling south on the highway and the driver had fallen asleep, before striking the guard rails," police said.
"Both the driver and passenger were transported by Sudbury paramedic services to the local hospital with non-life threatening injuries."
The driver, from Britt, Ont., was given a breathalyzer, which detected alcohol.
As a result, the person has been charged with careless driving and being a novice driver with a blood alcohol concentration above zero.
"The OPP would like to remind motorists to recognize some of the signs of fatigue; yawing, eyes closing, losing focus, blinking more than usual, feeling drowsy, light-headed and having trouble keeping your head up. If you feel fatigued while driving pull over and take a rest. Only sleep can cure fatigue," police said.
A careless driving conviction comes with a fine between $2,000 and $50,000, a prison sentence up to two years and a license suspension of up to five years.
Having a blood-alcohol level above zero while driving on a highway as a young driver comes with a fine between $60 and $500 if convicted.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
U.S. Capitol riot: More people turn up with evidence against Donald Trump
More witnesses are coming forward with new details on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot following former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's devastating testimony last week against former U.S. President Donald Trump, says a member of a U.S. House committee investigating the insurrection.

Dog left with lost baggage at Toronto Pearson Airport for about 21 hours
A Toronto woman says a dog she rescued from the Dominican Republic has been traumatized after being left in a corner of Toronto Pearson International Airport with baggage for about 21 hours.
Chinese-Canadian tycoon due to stand trial in China, embassy says
Chinese-Canadian billionaire Xiao Jianhua, who went missing in Hong Kong five years ago, was due to go on trial in China on Monday, the Canadian embassy in Beijing said.
'Hell on earth': Ukrainian soldiers describe life on eastern front
Torched forests and cities burned to the ground. Colleagues with severed limbs. Bombardments so relentless the only option is to lie in a trench, wait and pray. Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front lines in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, where Russia is waging a fierce offensive, describe life during what has turned into a gruelling war of attrition as apocalyptic.
Video shows police in Ohio kill Black man in hail of gunfire
A Black man was unarmed when Akron police chased him on foot and killed him in a hail of gunfire, but officers believed he had shot at them earlier from a vehicle and feared he was preparing to fire again, authorities said Sunday at a news conference.
Poorest Canadians nearly 4 times more likely to die from opioids than richest: study
A new study looking at opioid deaths across Canada over 17 years has found that low-income Canadians are almost four times more likely to die from opioids than high-income Canadians.
Shooting at Williams Lake, B.C. stampede injures 2, forces evacuation
Two people are injured and a third is in custody after what RCMP describe as a 'public shooting' at a rodeo in B.C. Sunday.
After a metre of rain, 32,000 around Sydney, Australia, may need to flee
More than 30,000 residents of Sydney and its surrounds were told to evacuate or prepare to abandon their homes Monday as Australia's largest city faces its fourth, and possibly worst, round of flooding in less than a year and a half.
Pope Francis denies he's planning to resign soon
Pope Francis has dismissed reports that he plans to resign in the near future, saying he is on track to visit Canada this month and hopes to be able to go to Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible after that.