SPRINGFIELD, OREGON — A 24-year-old California truck driver fell asleep at the wheel early Tuesday morning and drove a refrigerated tractor-trailer through a guardrail and down an embankment on northbound Interstate 5, where the truck came to rest overturned near milepost 191.
Oregon State Police said the crash occurred at 1:44 a.m. on September 1. Harleenjot Singh of Manteca, California, was driving a blue Volvo commercial motor vehicle pulling a refrigerated trailer northbound when it failed to negotiate a sweeping left-hand curve and struck the right shoulder guardrail. The truck went down the embankment and overturned.
Singh was transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. He told investigators he had fallen asleep and estimated his speed at the time of the crash at 62 mph. The vehicle was towed by Brooks Towing. ODOT was notified of damage to the guardrail.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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