Teachers Rescue Fatigued Driver

By COLlive reporter

A driver has lost control of her car and crashed just after children were dismissed Sunday from Lubavitch on the Palisades School located on Harold Street in Tenafly, NJ.

It appears that the driver, an elderly woman, has fallen asleep behind the wheel, leading her to crash into a utility pole.

“It knocked the pole down and ripped out the front right tire,” a bystander told COLlive.com. “The car then flipped over.”

As the police and ambulance were alerted, teachers of the Chabad school held the students at bay and hurried over to the scene, the man said.

They moved the driver to a safe distance from the car as the engine began smoking. “The woman was shaken but didn’t have any injuries, Baruch Hashem,” he added.

The National Sleep Foundation, which is sponsoring Drowsy Driving Prevention Week from Nov. 12-18, actually says that more than half of those who fall asleep at the wheel are 25 years or younger.

Studies show that staying awake for more than 20 hours can cause an impairment that equals a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08, the legal limit in many U.S. states, reports the Standard-Examiner.

Rather than consuming energy drinks, coffee and caffeinated soda, Highway Patrol troopers recommend pulling over to take a quick nap and stopping frequently to move around, the newspaper said.