Woman Drives into Palo Alto Creek

By Sue Chenoweth, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.

Apr. 12–A 36-year-old woman believed to have fallen asleep at the wheel landed in San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto late this morning, police said.

The woman was removed from her vehicle within 20 minutes and transported to a hospital for observation, according to Palo Alto police. Her identity was not immediately released.

Steve Herrera, traffic sergeant with the Palo Alto Police Department, said the woman was driving northbound on Middlefield Road when her vehicle missed the curve at Palo Alto Avenue, crossed the oncoming lane and a 20-foot flat area and down the embankment, where it came to rest in several feet of water.

The woman was still sitting in her vehicle when police arrived, Herrera said. She was conscious and complaining of neck pain.

The call came at 11:25 a.m., Herrera said.

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