Driver asleep at wheel causes deadly head-on crash
YELM, Wash. - A 55-year-old Puyallup woman was killed Thursday night when the driver of an approaching vehicle fell asleep at the wheel and slammed head-on into her car on a rural Thurston County road, the Washington State Patrol reported.
State troopers responded to the scene, near the intersection of 161st Way and Smith Prairie Road near Yelm, at about 9:40 p.m. Thursday after receiving a report of a crash.
An investigation found that a 40-year-old Tenino woman was heading north on Smith Prairie Road in a 1994 Isuzu Trooper when she fell asleep at the wheel.
Her vehicle drifted into the oncoming lane and slammed head-on into a 1994 Isuzu Amigo that was heading south. The impact killed the driver of the Amigo, identified later as Linda H. Burkhardt, 55, of Puyallup.
The driver who fell asleep was injured in the crash. She was taken to St. Peters Hospital in Olympia for treatment and could be cited for a traffic infraction.
Alcohol and drugs were not a factor in the crash, the State Patrol reported.
State troopers responded to the scene, near the intersection of 161st Way and Smith Prairie Road near Yelm, at about 9:40 p.m. Thursday after receiving a report of a crash.
An investigation found that a 40-year-old Tenino woman was heading north on Smith Prairie Road in a 1994 Isuzu Trooper when she fell asleep at the wheel.
Her vehicle drifted into the oncoming lane and slammed head-on into a 1994 Isuzu Amigo that was heading south. The impact killed the driver of the Amigo, identified later as Linda H. Burkhardt, 55, of Puyallup.
The driver who fell asleep was injured in the crash. She was taken to St. Peters Hospital in Olympia for treatment and could be cited for a traffic infraction.
Alcohol and drugs were not a factor in the crash, the State Patrol reported.
Dear Readers, my Auntie was and will always be an amazing women. She had the biggest heart and she had so much love and life left in her to share with the world. She was the kinda of person that would find a helpless animal or person and give them anything they needed to survive. Our family especially her daughters are all grieving over this sudden, and tragic death. Thank you all for the Positive comments.
Thank you everyone for your comments, linda was my aunt. She was a very wonderful person with such a big heart. We love and miss her so much.
Linda was a close Family friend of my Family. We are in a state of shock as well as her 2 Daughters and Son are. She had a beautiful Grand Daughter that was the love of her life. Linda was so happy about her new Grandson being born as well. Linda was the most giving caring selfless person i think I've ever known. Her Granddaughter is going to be so lost as will the rest of us without Linda. I hope the police will verify this woman who so carelessly killed this loving friend Mother and Grandmother wasn't texting on her phone at the time. Tthere are ways to determine if she was. If it is determined that she was, the charges better be very severe. I realize she has to live with the fact that she killed an innocent woman, but the Family has to deal with the loss of that innocent woman. We love and miss you Linda. We will help watch over your little Angel... You and Jesus can go fishing in the "big water"....no worries. RIP!
"Could" can be "should" and should be "Will".
This is terrible. So sad for the family of the lady that died and a horrible thing for the other driver to have to live with the rest of her life. Please... I know life gets in the way sometimes but it only takes a 15 minute nap to get back to functioning again (unless you're severly deprived). Years ago my family was going through some major stress stuff and between that and getting up extra early for work every day I was only managing to fall asleep for a few hours each night. Because of that, sometimes when I was driving to appointments and things I would feel like I just couldn't stay awake any longer and would pull off the road (preferably someplace safe feeling - like a grocery store parking lot), lock my doors, recline my seat and just go to sleep. I usually woke up again in 15 or 20 minutes feeling like I could go on. I even did this with my kids in the car some times. That was before they were old enough to take over the driving and I simply told them that there was no way to keep my eyes open any longer and they were just going to have to sit quite for a few minutes and maybe be a little bit late to wherever I was taking them.
That is not good. Prays are with the family. I hope everyone see's that taking care of yourself is important, and plenty of rest is a good start on taking care of yourself.Â
"could be cited" Â are you kiddin me? Â She killed someone, better be cited.Â
 @hello I was second on the scene and it was horrific. I climbed in the Isuzu, held the lady's hand and talked to her until paramedics got there. The Tenino woman may get a ticket but giving her a ticket is not the punishment. The punishment is the grief of knowing she killed someone. My heart and tears go out to both families.
@Scott @hello thank you for holding her hand. I'm her niece and what you did might have got her to stay with us just long enough for us to hold her and say our good byes. From the bottom of my heart thank you for being so caring
I just wanted to say thank you for holding Linda's hand until the paramedics arrived. I'm sure you were a comfort to her. Thank you so much!
Seems ironic that both vehicles were '94 Isuzu's.
My sympathies to the family & friends of victim. I sincerely hope the sleeping driver gets at least a ticket for causing a death, whether drugs/alcohol were involved or not.
 @katiemcc thought the same thing on the Isuzu. Barely see them anymore and they've exited the US market
Driving extremely tired is almost as bad as DUI. If you are that tired, get the hell off of my roads. You are going to hit me or someone I know.
 @PacificNWRunner Yes it is. There are studies that say using a phone is like being a .08. Asleep has to be worse. I worry about the young people who don't think it can happen to them.
This says 1 in 7 fall asleep!
http://zautos.com/one-in-seven-young-people-fall-asleep-behind-the-wheel-study-says/
 @PacificNWRunner Who said she was tired when she got behind the wheel? Maybe she was wide awake and got tired as she drove. Don't assume stuff dude.Â
@PortSCUM @PacificNWRunner Unless someone has some disorder of some sort, tiredness doesn't just hit in a second. They know long before falling asleep that they are tired.
 @The WA Mama  @PortSCUM  @PacificNWRunner Don't worry about PortSCUM's replies; look at his comment history...trolling left and right with a fake avatar.Â
@PacificNWRunner some states actually have laws on the books about driving drowsy
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