Two people have had a lucky escape after a driver fell asleep behind the wheel while driving on Tasmania’s West Coast today.
The driver, a 61-year-old Victorian man, crashed into an embankment after he fell asleep on the Lyell Highway around 40km from Queenstown shortly after 1pm.
As a result of the crash – the passenger, an 81-year-old female, was airlifted to the Royal Hobart Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The driver was not injured in the crash.
Senior Constable Stephen Barrow of Queenstown Police said they were lucky the crash was relatively minor, and involved only one vehicle.
“Fatigue is one of the fatal five causes of serious and fatal crashes, and as Operation Safe Arrival continues we’re asking all motorists to think of the ‘Fatal Five’ and drive to stay alive.”
