Car crash query.

[spartan1983]

I was involved in a car crash, that was my fault. I think i fell asleep even though i didnt feel tired and when i came to i was on the wrong side of the road, then swerved to the correct side but the oncoming car had done the same. We hit virtually head on and both cars are right-offs :( I came out with only a swollen knee, the driver and passenger I think only had whiplash and minor injuries. I know its completely my fault because i was on the wrongside, i havent given a statement to the police yet, but im very worried that im going to be badly penalised. I was wondering if they did find i was asleep at the wheel, what punishment should i expect? As I hope i dont lose my job over it. Any help will be very welcome

thank you

[thetruthhurts]

What other explanation were you thinking of giving for being on the wrong side????

[spartan1983]

well because i didnt feel tired i didnt know if i blacked out or not, but the paramedics said i might have done but they couldnt find any symptoms.

[snags]

What other explanation could there be for you ending up on the other side of the road?

[Mosaic]

I can suggest for starters migraine aura, which could cause you to not realise you had wandered across lane. I have known this occur as a one-off, triggered by faulty exhaust that was feeding fumes into the car.

[dothawkes31]

have you been on any medication or prescribed drugs or have you ever had this incident before the accident as the accident could be the reason you can't remember . You have to report the accident immediately if anyone is injured, the police should speak to you straight away to eliminate alcohol or drugs beong a factor

[spartan1983]

thanks for the suggestion but wouldnt i have smelt something or had a headache?

[spartan1983]

i havent been on medication or had an accidents recently, the only thing thats happened remotely linked was i lost my memory for half a day and they found nothing wrong, plus that was 10 years ago, so it cant be that. yes police and ambulance were there and i came up zero on drugs and drink

[Prudie]

Have you sought further medical investigation apart from the paramedics? Trouble is I think if it was caused by something other than tiredness there's a risk they take your licence if there's a chance it could happen again.. Hopefully you did just fall asleep.

[dothawkes31]

so have you been able to write down a timeline of the previous 24 - 36 hours say to establish whether tiredness could be a factor? Is it automatic BTW?

[spartan1983]

i have been to the hospital and they took a body sugar level which came back as being a little low but fine so more likely not black-out, just was surprised if i nodded off because i felt awake. So if i did fall asleep what could i be faced with?

[spartan1983]

i can remember being at work and driving all the way to the corner, it is a fairly long road aswell so it could of been that? must of only been a second though. my car was a manual but i was in he same gear for a while

[spartan1983]

sorry to keep asking but what could i receive for falling asleep at the wheel?

[Prudie]

Until someone who knows comes along why don't you google 'falling asleep at the wheel'. There are lots of entries although take some with a pinch of salt.

[twix123]

Why don't you re-post this query under Law to see if one of the 'legal eagles' may be able to answer your question regarding likely penalties.