asleep at the wheel

Tien is pretty lucky that noone was hurt, otherwise he'd be going to jail. I wonder what the 'Authorities' did to make a lot of noise? That seems kind of odd. I can see some station manager and his assistants standing next to the tracks with a colletion of pots and pans saying, "here comes the train with passed out drunk conductor, makes LOTS OF NOISE'.... perhaps they had some type of airhorn.

Train Driver Fired for Drunk Driving
By Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam -- A drunk Vietnamese train driver who fell sound asleep on the job, leaving his cargo train to barrel unmanned down the tracks, has been fired, an official said Thursday.

Vu Kim Tien, 45, was alone on the runaway train as it chugged the more than six miles to the next station on Saturday. He had fallen asleep after drinking alcohol during a break, said Tran Tan Bao, deputy director of Ha Lao Locomotive Enterprise in northern Yen Bai province, 112 miles northwest of Hanoi.

Officials at several railway stations along the track were alerted and all other trains stopped after Tien's locomotive took off without clearance, he said. Officials tried shouting into the two carriages as the train passed along the tracks, but to no avail, he said.

Authorities at the next stop then made a lot of noise near the train, which woke Tien up. He was able to stop the train and no one was injured in the incident, Bao said. Tien was fired Tuesday, ending a 20-year career that had no other blemishes, he said.