In Long Beach, California, a trucker fell asleep at the wheel and caused some serious damage.
It happened early on Thursday morning, around 1 a.m. in the 3300 block of Santa Fe Avenue.
When police arrived at the scene, they discovered that the semi truck driver, John Sesma, had fallen asleep while driving southbound on Santa Fe Avenue.
He then smashed into a vehicle that was parked along the side of the road. This caused a domino effect and he crashed into nearly a dozen vehicles, even dragging some along across the sidewalk.
The car owners woke up to a shocking scene of their wrecked vehicles, many of them totaled. One car owner, Dennis Carter, had his yellow Volkswagen Beetle for over 15 years.
He told reporters:
“I was just kind of surprised, kind of numb…Looks like I got to tow it out of the red zone, then I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Another car owner, Salvador Vernal, explained that he had just bought his Jeep for his family only four months ago. His vehicle was struck with such force that it was pushed onto the sidewalk, where its tires were literally ripped from their axles.
KTLA reported that the truck driver had only been driving for four years and was a “rookie driver.” He didn’t realize that the road was a restricted area for tractor trailers. The driver apologetically explained that he fell asleep for an instant when it happened.
He told reporters that he felt pressure that if he wasn’t driving, he wasn’t making any money. The driver assured all the victims that he is insured and will be taking care of all the damage done.
Because it was the middle of the night, all the cars were vacant. No one was injured except the driver who suffered minor cuts and bruises. Officials do not suspect that drugs or alcohol were a factor in the incident.
The crash is still under investigation.
