Driver passes out, comes to a stop on freeway

[Pete from Boston]

Empty vodka bottle in the back seat, foot resting on brake pedal in the middle lane at night.  Cameraman stopped and filmed, apparently. 

Cop finally broke in and, after her foot slipped and the car started going, got the car into park.  Cars flying by at full speed the whole time.

http://www.whdh.com/story/28640887/accused-drunk-driver-passes-out-behind-the-wheel

Just amazing that no one was killed.

[vdeane]

My boss has a story of being in a Northway work zone in Warren County.  A lane was closed with cones and this car went by before drifting out of its lane, over the cones, and off a bridge.  It turns out that the driver had suffered a heart attack and there had been no conscious driver for quite a distance; the only thing keeping the car from running everyone over was the worn in tire tracks.

Today in the safety part of the annual Highway Data Services conference we saw a video of a car where the driver suffered a medical emergency and drove straight into the truck carrying the flashing "left lane closed" sign.

[cpzilliacus]

Some years ago, I was headed out to do some work in Arlington County, Virginia early in the morning and discovered a vehicle stopped on North Sycamore Street at Va. 237 (Washington Boulevard) a block north of I-66 - just sitting there with the engine running even though the signal was green.

I got out to investigate, and discovered that the driver was indeed passed-out for reasons not clear to me at the time, and the windows were up and the doors locked.

So at that point I called 911 and got Fairfax County, but they promptly transferred me to Arlington County.  They took down the information and said help was on the way.  First response came from the City of Falls Church Fire Department, followed by the Arlington County Police.  The Falls Church firefighters banged on the car windows and sheet metal and rocked it back and forth a little, and apparently the driver regained consciousness. 

I gave the cops my contact information (since to them this looked like a DUI case), then headed off to do my job.

Never heard anything more about it, so I do not know if the driver was under the influence or had a medical problem of some kind.

[Pete from Boston]

I've encountered a few stopped vehicles in highway lanes.  Even if they're in the right lane it's a little horrifying.  Quite often the problem is the time it takes folks to change lanes to avoid this leaves very little time for the next car back to do the same.