Local tragedy sheds light on drowsy-driving epidemic

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, more than one in five fatal crashes involves a drowsy driver.

An example of those dangers recently played out in Berks County.

On Wednesday, a Lehigh County man and a Berks County woman were killed and nine others injured after a tractor trailer plowed into several cars on Route 222 in Maidencreek Township.

Jeremy Augustine, 23, of Emmaus, and 32-year-old Jane Harakal of Topton both died.

The tractor trailer driver accused of causing it, 49-year-old Steven Bernier of Reading, remains jailed on homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter charges. Bernier was allegedly asleep at the wheel.

Back in January, it was a similar incident when a truck driver plowed through one of the toll booths on Interstate 78 coming from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.

Fifty-five-year-old Robert Gawne was charged with homicide by vehicle after police say he fell asleep at the wheel while approaching the I-78 toll plaza in Williams Township, Northampton County.

Officials say his truck was airborne, landed on a car and hit the toll booth before bursting into flames. The driver of the car, Daniel Murphy of Hackettstown, N.J., was killed.

Asif Aslam owns and operates Advance Driving School in Lehigh Valley and says truck drivers should listen to their bodies to avoid collisions.

"As professional drivers, they have to meet some deadlines. They have long distances to travel. They need to stop often," Aslam said. "They need to take enough breaks."

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Local tragedy sheds light on drowsy-driving epidemic