When it isn’t your time, then it isn’t your time.
A van driver from Ukraine discovered this for himself after he managed to survive a head-on collision with a truck after falling asleep at the wheel.
CCTV footage captured the whole incident which occurred in Mylushi in the Lutsk district, Ukraine. The white van the man was driving appeared to swerve erratically along the white lines of the road until it eventually crossed into the opposite lane.
The van then collided with an oncoming truck with a trailer. The blue truck tried to avoid the van but they still collided. But miraculously, not only did both drivers survive, they were conscious and could move on their own after some assistance.
The van, however, wasn’t so lucky and the driver could only stare in shock at the remains of the van. The torn metal and ripped panels could easily have been his own body if not for the luckiest of chance. Other drivers offered their assistance although it appears that initially, the van driver was simply too shocked to move on his own.
Paramedics were quick to arrive. According to a spokesperson from the Paramedics from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine:
“According to the preliminary information, there are no deaths. Passengers were hospitalized, all of them were conscious after the incident.”
Zil Nicholas, who witnessed the incident, said: “The driver was going from Lutsk to Kovel. I saw that the driver was moving strangely and crashed into the oncoming vehicle.
“We think that he had fallen asleep while he was driving.”
For drivers who may be feeling sleepy while on the road, the RAC has a few guidelines:
- Rest adequately before setting out on a long journey
- Include 15-minute breaks for every two hours of driving when planning a journey
- If you start to feel sleepy, find a safe place to stop as soon as possible
- Drink two cups of coffee or other high caffeine drinks and have a rest to allow time for the caffeine to kick in
- Have a good night’s sleep before setting out on a long journey
- Avoid making long trips between midnight-6am and 2-4pm when natural alertness is low
- Share the driving if possible
- Avoid eating a big meal before driving – remember this when stopping at a service station for a bite to eat!
It’s good that no one was seriously hurt this time around although we expect that the driver would have learned his lesson by now.
He can definitely thank his lucky stars and his guardian angel for watching out for him!