Texas Woman Survives Sleepy Driving Fiery Crash

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A Texas woman has luckily walked away with minor bruises from a fiery crash after her car rolled over and burst into flames.

According to KSAT12 a woman who was driving sleepily at the wheel clipped an 18 wheeler at about 4:15 this morning, causing her SUV to roll and then catch fire. As firefighters worked the car fire extinguishing the flames, it looks like an onlooker inside of another vehicle became distracted by the accident and also crashed.

San Antonio police responded to both accidents.

San Antonio police responded to that accident and the secondary wreck around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday at Interstate 35 and Eisenhower Road on the Northeast Side. It appears the 18 wheeler was unaware it had been clipped and continued to drive.

Luckily the woman survived the fiery crash.

As we await more details on the second driver who crashed their vehicle while distracted by the fire, it's a good time to discuss safety tips if you and your family are considering traveling during the holidays.

Planning to travel by car during the holidays?

Many of us are considering traveling by car this year for the holidays.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving accounts for 697 fatal crashes for 2019 alone. Deaths that could have been prevented.

Tips on How to Stay Awake and Alert While Driving

The number one way to stay awake and alert while driving is to get good, routine sleep. "Getting adequate sleep on a daily basis is the only true way to protect yourself against the risks of driving when you’re drowsy," the NHTSA offers.

Microsleeping is deadly.

I've included this tip from the NHTSA because I didn't know this type of driving had a name. Microsleeping, which has happened to me once on a long drive through Texas is when you have very brief losses of consciousness that can last for a few seconds. This means that at 55 miles per hour, you’ve traveled more than 100 yards down the road while asleep. That’s plenty of time to cause a crash!

Other tips include not driving during normal sleep times, midnight through 6 am as well as checking your prescriptions to be sure drowsiness is not a side effect before driving.

If you feel you are getting sleepy, the NHTSA recommends the following, " Drink one to two cups of coffee and pull over for a short 20-minute nap in a safe place, such as a lighted, designated rest stop. This has been shown to increase alertness in scientific studies, but only for short time periods."

Get lots of rest before a long road trip, Texas!