1 Dies in Crash When Driver Falls Asleep
A sleeping woman died Wednesday when the driver of the car in which she was riding also fell asleep at the wheel along the Ventura Freeway in Woodland Hills, authorities said.
The woman, whose name was not released pending notification of relatives, was thrown from the back seat of the car after it sailed more than 30 feet through the air and landed on Shoup Avenue, said Officer Dennis Yates of the California Highway Patrol.
The driver, Amador Racine, 38, of Canoga Park was wearing a seat belt and suffered minor injuries. He was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills, where he was treated and released.
Yates said Racine was driving east on the freeway about 11:02 a.m. when he dozed off and lost control of the car. The vehicle swerved onto the right shoulder, then back into traffic lanes, before flying off the freeway, Yates said.
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