19-Year-Old Falls Asleep Behind the Wheel Before Fatal Crash Killing 1

Paula Liu
By Paula Liu
July 15, 2019News
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19-Year-Old Falls Asleep Behind the Wheel Before Fatal Crash Killing 1
A picture of a highway road. (Pit Karges/Pixabay)

A 19-year-old male caused a crash that killed another person while driving on U.S. Highway 70 in Clayton after he fell asleep behind the wheel on July 14, according to multiple reports.

Gavin Eugene Knight was driving eastbound near Town Centre Boulevard around 6 a.m. when he fell asleep behind the wheel of his car. He crossed over the median into oncoming traffic. Then he crashed head-on into 35-year-old Torey Vernell Rascoe’s white Nissan traveling west, according to Clayton Officials, WTVD reported.



Clayton police present at the scene of the crash processed the accident site and pronounced Rascoe dead at the scene, and said that he had been wearing a seatbelt while driving.

According to the police accident reports from Clayton Police, Johnston County EMS arrived at the scene. Knight was assessed and taken to Johnston Health Medical Center with minor injuries. WTVD reported that a breathalyzer test on Knight showed he had not consumed any alcohol.

Both cars were severely damaged, with an estimated $10,000 worth of damages on Rascoe’s car, and $8,000 damage to Knight’s vehicle. East Coast Towing towed Knight’s Chevy Avalanche, and Rascoe’s Nissan was towed away by Towing And Recover LLC, according to the police report.

Knight was charged with reckless driving to endanger, as well as misdemeanor death by vehicle, according to the police report.

After the incident, the traffic on Highway 60 was blocked off, leaving one westbound lane, which lasted about an hour and 45 minutes, according to Jocoreport.

Another 19-Year-Old Fell Asleep Behind The Wheel

In a similar case, another 19-year-old fell asleep behind the wheel and sustain serious injuries when his vehicle crashed, according to KQ2.

Austin Moran was driving northbound on Business 71 and was two miles south of Savannah a little after 7 a.m. when he fell asleep behind the wheel. His Pontiac Grand Am trailed off the right side of the road and ended up hitting a utility pole, it then became airborne and finally ended up striking a tree.

The officials on the scene transported Moran to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph, he was sporting serious injuries. Fortunately, none of them were life-threatening, according to Moran’s family, KQ2 reported. Moran was also wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

According to the news outlet, the accident scene was processed by the Andrew County Sheriff’s Department and the Savannah Fire Department.

Man Sleeping in Tesla While Going 75 MPH

A man was captured “straight snoozing” while driving 75 mph on the highway, apparently letting his Tesla car drive for him.

Seth Blake, a musician, posted the video on Twitter on March 5, saying, “Dude is straight snoozing going 75 mph on the interstate, letting his @Tesla do the work.”

The video shows a man leaning back in his seat with his face turned at an upward angle away from the road.

“We were near or around him in traffic for about 10 minutes before we lost him. He was going about 75 mph for the first five minutes before we hit LA stop and go traffic for the last five (which felt a little safer),” Blake told Fox News.

“We eventually lost him, but he was asleep pretty much the whole time. I saw him open his eyes once to look around, but he quickly dozed back to sleep,” he added.

Fox reported that the driver was behind the wheel of a Tesla Model 3 in Los Angeles, adding that his hand was on the steering wheel.

The Tesla Model 3 has an autopilot feature that is capable of steering the car within a lane and braking for other vehicles. The driver has to have a hand on the steering wheel for the function to work.

“If you agree to enable the trial, all Autopilot features, except Navigate on Autopilot (Beta), will immediately be activated. Please only enable these features if you will pay attention to the road, keep your hands on the steering wheel and be prepared to take over at all times,” says Telsa’s website about the feature.

It adds that autopilot is merely a “driver assistance feature,” and it doesn’t make the car self-driving.

Epoch Times Staff Writer Jack Phillips contributed to this article.

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