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Driver fatigue suspected in fatal accident

Troopers suspect the driver of a sedan that drifted into oncoming traffic killing three people last month fell asleep at the wheel.

“I think what we have is someone who fell asleep,” said trooper Jonathan Silver, with the Colorado State Patrol. “We really don’t have anything other than someone dozed off; it may have even been for a moment and ended up out of his lane.”

The driver, Kenneth Johnson, 60, was traveling southbound near the Glacier Club on U.S. Highway 550 north shortly before 10:30 a.m. July 30 when his black Toyota Avalon crossed the center line and two lanes of oncoming traffic before running head-on into a silver Nissan Xterra SUV, troopers said.

Two passengers in the sedan were killed, including John Lyle Bennett, 61, of Olathe, and Keith Duane Marksberry, 61, of Delta.

The driver of the Xterra, Patrick A. Shields, 60, survived the crash, but his passenger, Ruth Shields, 91, of Durango, was killed.

Johnson has been cited with three counts of careless driving causing death and two counts of careless driving causing serious bodily injury.

Investigators have no evidence that a medical emergency, excessive speed or drugs and alcohol played a role.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have anything we can look at and make people feel better,” Silver said. “The more defensive you can drive, the better.”

Johnson was driving from Delta to Durango, about a 2½-hour trip, when the accident occurred, Silver said. It wasn’t as if he had been driving all night, the trooper said.

Driving while tired is a deceptive game that happens thousands of times on our roads, Silver said.

“Fatigue can overcome you in a moment,” he said. “Literally, a blink of an eye.”

shane@durangoherald.com



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