Being a trucker means working long, exhausting hours. You often have to flip your schedule between nights and days as well. One truck driver recently fell asleep behind the wheel and woke up to a disastrous situation. 

Trucker falls asleep behind the wheel and causes a fatal crash 

51-year-old Soni C. Maniyagattu was starting a normal day as a Canadian truck driver before his route ended in disaster. 

The trucker left Canada around 5:40 am and made his way down into the United States. He was following the laws and even took a mandatory 30-minute break during his trip. 

But around 2 pm, he was asleep at the wheel in  Auburn, New York. He slammed into a pickup truck at the intersection of Lafayette Center and Zubrick Road, near the General Motors plant entrance. 

The pickup truck was sitting at a red light when it was rear-ended by the semi-truck, sending both trucks into a nearby ditch. 

Maniyagattu hit the brakes one second before impact and was traveling at 64 mph in a 50 mph zone. According to 21 Alive News, the pickup truck rolled three times after it was hit. 

81-year-old Kathleen Chilson Prince was killed in the wreck along with her Australian Shepard puppy. Her cause of death was multiple blunt-force injuries and the manner of death was ruled an accident. 

Her husband, Duane Price was seriously injured during the crash. It’s unclear whether Maniyagattu was hurt, and an update has not been released about Prince’s condition. But the Allen County Police Department attested Maniyagattu. 

He faces two felony charges including reckless homicide and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. Police reports didn’t share what type of weapon he was carrying in his rig. It’s safe to assume that his trucking career is over.