Julio Chacon, 33, of Fremont was injured on the morning of Sept. 17, when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and struck a telephone pole on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road near Herriman Drive.
Chacon was traveling southbound on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road when he drifted off the road and struck the pole at 6:23 a.m. Both air bags in the car were activated on impact.
"The front end of the car was crumpled like an accordion," Sherrif's Deputy Dan Forest said. "It looked a lot more serious than it was; the air bag saved his life."
Chacon was trapped for about 20 minutes before the Saratoga Fire Department used the Jaws of Life to extricate him from the car. He was taken to the Valley Medical Center Trauma Unit, where he was treated for deep lacerations to his left leg that required stitches.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, September 25, 1996.
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