Guernsey Press

Fell asleep at the wheel, hit Porsche

A LORRY driver fell asleep at the wheel momentarily and crashed into the back of a Porsche Carrera near the Halfway filter, the Magistrate’s Court was told.

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(Picture By Steve Sarre, 24526102)

Daniel Baptista, of Penthouse Flat, Longstore Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, admitted driving without due care and attention. He was fined £500 and banned from driving for six weeks.

Law Officers’ liaison Nigel Burnard told the court that the Porsche, which was being driven north, had stopped while the driver waited to turn right into the seaward car park next to the bus shelter at about 8.50am.

The defendant’s Daf truck, which was travelling in the same direction, crossed the filter before hitting the car.

Mr Baptista told police he had fallen asleep at the wheel momentarily and by the time he woke up it had been too late to take avoiding action.

He was interviewed later in the presence of an interpreter. He said he had worked for the same company for five to seven years.

He started work at 5am each day and went to bed between 8pm and 9pm.

He compared falling asleep at the wheel to having a heart attack as he said there had been no warning whatsoever. His only medical issue was back pain and he had no previous convictions.

Mr Baptista said that two months before the accident he had started suffering back pain for which his GP had prescribed him tablets.

As his English was not good he had not been able to read the instructions, but he realised now that a possible side-effect was drowsiness.

He had had no problems before and had since stopped taking the tablets.

Judge Graeme McKerrell said the defendant got credit for his early guilty plea but he was concerned at the assumption that the tablets and falling asleep at the wheel had been linked.

Whatever language difficulties there were, if somebody was prescribed medication they had a responsibility to make sure they understood the nature of it and its possible side effects, particularly when driving a vehicle of this size.

It was inconceivable that the vehicle licensing authority would not want a full medical report before Mr Baptista got his licence back.

He asked Mr Burnard to make the authorities aware of the case and he advised the defendant to visit his doctor to make arrangements so he would be able to get back on the road as soon as he was permitted, once his suspension had been completed.

Judge McKerrell said the penalty would have been significantly higher had it not been for the good points in the defendant’s favour.