May 26, 2014
MANNING, Ore. (AP) — A
19-year-old man caused a three-car crash when he fainted while holding
his breath as he drove through a tunnel northwest of Portland, Oregon
State Police said.
Daniel J.
Calhon, of Snohomish, Washington, told investigators he fainted Sunday
afternoon while holding his breath in the Highway 26 tunnel near the
community of Manning, according to a news release. His car, a 1990
Toyota Camry, drifted across the centerline and crashed head-on with a
Ford Explorer.
Both vehicles struck the tunnel walls before a pickup hit the Camry.
Calhon and his passenger,
19-year-old Bradley Meyring, of Edmonds, Washington, suffered
non-life-threatening injuries, as did the two people in the Explorer:
Thomas Hatch Jr., 67, and Candace Hatch, 61, from Astoria. All four were
taken to hospitals.
The two people in the pickup were not hurt.
Calhon
was cited for reckless driving, three counts of reckless endangerment
and fourth-degree assault in Washington County Circuit Court. It was not
clear if he had a lawyer.
State
Police Lt. Gregg Hastings said Monday he's not sure why Calhon was
holding his breath, but some people hold their breaths in tunnels as
part of a game or superstition.
The
tunnel, called the Dennis L. Edwards Tunnel, was completed in 1940 and
carries the highway through the Northern Oregon Coast Range mountains.
It's 772 feet long, meaning that a car traveling at the posted speed
limit of 55 mph would get through it in about 10 seconds.