Driver falls asleep at the wheel, causes accident in Garden City

Garden City, Kan (WesternKansasNews.Com) – On Wednesday, at around 1:35 P.M., Officers of the Garden City Police Department, Garden City Fire Department, Finney County EMS, and Kansas Highway Patrol were dispatched to the E. US Highway 50 and N. US Highway 83 interchange for a reported injury accident. Upon arrival, first responders located two vehicles with extensive damage in the roadway.

The investigation revealed that the driver of a Kia Rio, identified as Robert Bennett (60), Garden City, KS, was traveling westbound on E. US Highway 50 and fell asleep at the wheel and drove through the red light. A GMC pickup, driven by Mark Jones (64), Leoti, KS, was facing eastbound and had a green arrow to turn north onto N. US Highway 83. As Jones made the northbound turn, the pickup struck the car.

First responders had to extricate Bennett from the vehicle, and Bennett was later transported to St. Catherine Hospital for treatment of injuries. Jones was treated at the scene by Finney County EMS. Traffic had to be diverted for approximately one hour.

Bennett was cited and released for Inattentive Driving and Disobey Traffic Control Signal.