An Indiana State Police trooper was standing outside his own marked patrol car when an SUV slammed into both him and the vehicle, and the fact that he walked away without life-threatening injuries is mostly luck.
It happened Tuesday around 6 p.m. on U.S. 41 near Decker. Master Trooper Brett Pool was outside his cruiser when a vehicle driven by a 33-year-old woman from Vincennes hit him. He was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries police described as non-life-threatening. The driver of the SUV wasn’t hurt at all.
10 Best Safety Items for Your Car
A Scenario Move-Over Laws Exist to Prevent
That’s the part worth sitting with for a second. A trooper, on the side of a major highway, next to a clearly marked police car, gets run into anyway. This is exactly the scenario move-over laws exist to prevent, and it keeps happening regardless.
The woman behind the wheel was cited for unsafe lane movement. Police said the crash remains under investigation, but they don’t believe drugs or alcohol played any role. So this wasn’t an impairment story, it was a vehicle drifting where it shouldn’t have, with a person standing in the wrong spot at the wrong moment.
Why Roadside Stops Are So Dangerous
Here’s the part that matters for everyone else on the road. Roadside work is some of the most dangerous work there is, and not because of the work itself, it’s the traffic. A trooper outside a stopped car has almost no margin for error from passing vehicles, and a single lane mistake at highway speed turns into a hospital visit, or worse.
ISP used the incident to repeat the same message agencies have been pushing for years: stay alert, cut the distractions, slow down and move over when you’re coming up on emergency vehicles or anything sitting along the shoulder. It sounds basic because it is basic, and that’s the frustrating part. The advice never changes because the behavior never does.
A Thin Line Most Drivers Don’t Think About
For drivers, the takeaway is simple and a little uncomfortable. The line between an ordinary commute and hitting a person standing on the roadside is a lot thinner than most people want to admit. Trooper Pool got lucky this time. The next person standing next to a stopped car might not.
Images Via: Indiana State Police