Man sleeping in car near I-10 in Phoenix crashes after waking up, reversing onto freeway
PHOENIX - A man who was passed out in his car caused a crash near Interstate 10 in west Phoenix after he woke up and reversed his car into the center wall of the freeway, according to the Arizona Dept. of Public Safety.
Troopers say the man was sleeping and parked on the side of the road near the 67th Avenue off-ramp when a Good Samaritan pulled over and woke him up to make sure everything was okay.
When he woke up, he started reversing towards the highway, according to Sgt. Jacob Melki.
"He went into reverse and drove down the embankment here onto the main line of the highway, crossed all the lanes and struck the center wall," Melki said.
A pickup truck heading eastbound wasn't able to stop in time and crashed into the man's car.
The man who reversed was hospitalized with serious injuries. The truck driver is expected to be okay.
Officials are working to determine if impairment was a factor in the crash.
"Quite often people fall asleep at the offramp - usually they are impaired - but some people working long hours, they fall asleep because they are tired," said Melki. "Could be either, or so we are going to try and determine which one it was."
All eastbound lanes have reopened after being partially blocked during the crash investigation.