Suspected drunken driver hospitalized after crashing into Fairbanks rail yard
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Al Yatlin Jr., 33, of Fairbanks is in serious condition at the Alaska Native Medical Center where he was airlifted, a nursing supervisor at the Anchorage hospital said.
Yatlin appeared to have broken his back, Fairbanks police Lt. Matt Soden said.
The crash happened about 3 a.m. after Yatlin had entered the expressway from Peger Road, the lieutenant said.
Yatlin was headed east toward the Walmart shopping district when he lost control of his newer-model Hyundai Sonata shortly before the Danby Road intersection, Soden said.
Yatlin hit the jersey barrier separating the eastbound and westbound traffic lanes and swung back across the eastbound lanes.
A snowberm acted as a ramp and pushed him up onto the guardrail, Soden said.
"It looks like he slid across the railing and dropped down beside a train," Soden said. "It did not look like he hit the train."
The Sonata, which was totaled, landed on its driver's side. The roof was "completely crushed," Soden said.
"By the time I got down there, he had kind of pulled himself out of the car with his leg still inside it," Soden said. "He was conscious. He did appear to be intoxicated.
"It's the first time I've seen somebody drop into the railroad yard like that," Soden said.
No one else was inside the Sonata, and no one else was hurt. Another motorist, who saw a cloud of snow, called 911, Soden said.
Yatlin faces a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.
" It does seem to me that he has perhaps already 'paid his dues' and learned his lesson, if he was DUI, and charging him at this point might be a little 'over-kill'."
Really? So if a drunk driver is injured during the course of their mindless rally, they shouldn't be held accountable and punished by the law?? Sorry, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this one.
There is only one solution here, don't drive drunk. Problem solved.
I know someone who followed the response to this accident, from time the motorist called it in and waited for the LEOs to respond. Their question was: "How come there was such a massive LEO response and presence on the Jo'berg, and how come it took so long for there to be an apparent response to the vehicle in the train yard?"
My best *guess* was that LE did not immediately realize that they were responding to an MVA [the report by the witness was only that he saw a cloud of snow rising in the train yd - he did not see the vehicle go off] - LEOs may have thought that there was some other type of incident happening [ie: toxic release, act of vandelism, etc etc] and wished to observe and evaluate from a safe point before proceding down to the tracks. [A wise precaution - I once watched a whole squad of LA firefighters gas themselves in a 'heroic-rush-in-and-rescue' action (sans Scott packs) that turned out to be a fumigation in progress.] Anybody have any info on this?
Step 2 is to go back and remove the snow from the bridge.
If you think the snow needs to get off the bridge immediately, please volunteer to increase your tax payments.
The problem is alcohol and driving, shovel that off the road.
Its winter, Its Alaska, drive appropriately.
Condolences to his family. I know that injuries to family are one thing that no one wants during the holidays or anytime.
I think the real story here is the snow berm against the guardrail that allowed the car to be launched into the air. Is there a better way to remove the snow from that stretch of road? Maybe the Fairbanks PD can have the prisoners out with shovels to clear it away...