EAGLE—”New-car smell” might have contributed to a driver losing consciousness in a July hit-and-run accident, his lawyers claim.

Martin Erzinger was driving a new 2010 Mercedes sedan when he rear-ended bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo, about 1:30 p.m. July 3.

Erzinger’s attorneys say their client suffers from sleep apnea and fell asleep at the wheel before driving off U.S. Highway 6 and onto the shoulder near Miller Ranch Road, hitting Milo, who sustained injuries, from behind.

Erzinger had purchased the car about a month before the accident. Accident reconstructionist John Koziol found in his investigation the sedan was emitting new car fumes, court documents said. It might have been a contributing factor, documents said.

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