Two cars written-off after 87-year-old admits to nodding off at the wheel

As the result of his nodding-off at the wheel on Tuesday evening, an 87-year-old driver failed to notice vehicles in front of him on the A4a motorway had come to a standstill and drove first into the back of a trailer and then into the rear of another car (main photograph).

The incident happened shortly before 5 pm as the driver was proceeding towards the end of the A4a motorway in the Sihlbrugg direction.

After hitting a trailer being towed by a van, the elderly driver passed by to the right before crashing into the rear of a car in the right-hand lane. In so doing, this latter car was shunted into the rear of another, the two vehicles ending up written-off.

When police arrived on the scene, the driver admitted he had momentarily nodded off. Not surprisingly, his driving licence was duly confiscated on the spot and he can expect to be hearing from the prosecution service in due course.

In separate road traffic incidents, late on Tuesday evening police came across a 21-year-old man driving on Lettenstrasse in Rotkreuz even though he had been banned from doing so because he had been previously caught driving whilst under the influence of drugs. What is more, when questioned by police, he lied about his identity. A 21-year-old in whose name the car is registered also faces charges.

In another incident, a woman cyclist was badly injured after falling off her bike after being brushed by a car, the driver of which continued on his or her way. This happened by the Bären roundabout in Cham shortly after noon on Tuesday as she approached it having come from the nearby Coop. In this case the police have appealed for any witnesses to contact them without delay on 041 728 41 41. It could well be that the driver of the car involved was not aware of what happened. Police are also keen to be contacted by any of the occupants of a white car with Zurich plates being driven behind the cyclist who may have seen what happened. 

Then, in the early hours of Wednesday, police noticed a car being driven in a haphazard way on Langgasse in Baar. The 44-year-old driver, who turned out to be a French national, was found to have been driving with excess alcohol in her blood and was duly banned from driving in Switzerland forthwith.

In yet a further incident, a woman driver had to be taken to hospital after she lost control over her vehicle early on Wednesday and ended up in a field.

This incident happened shortly before 5.30 am as the 44-year-old was proceeding towards Sihlbrugg from Edlibach, the Zug fire brigade, assisted by their colleagues in Neuheim, having to be brought in to free her from the wreckage (second photograph).