A hit-and-run incident on a Nevada highway that severely damaged a trooper’s vehicle serves as an urgent reminder for drivers to give law enforcement vehicles plenty of space, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP).
On Aug. 6, an NHP trooper was about to step out of his parked vehicle during a traffic stop, when a sedan slammed into the trooper’s door at a high speed. The whole incident was captured by the trooper’s body-cam and dash-cam mounted on the vehicle.
#moveover This happened today on US95 when a motorist disregarded the Nevada Move Over Law and struck a NHP vehicle. Thankfully our Trooper wasn’t injured. It is the law that you must slow down and move over one lane when approaching a stopped emergency vehicle. #drivesafenv pic.twitter.com/PvlzzyLQzA
— NHP Southern Command (@NHPSouthernComm) August 7, 2018
“This trooper was literally a second or two from a critical injury or death in that situation,” Trooper Jason Buratczuk said to KTNV.
A picture of the damaged trooper vehicle shows the door was smashed open a full 180 degrees. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.
The driver of the sedan didn’t stop after the collision and was located and cited the next day. Officers issued several citations for driving without a valid license, hit-and-run property damage and failure to stop and render aid, but no arrest was made, according to KTNV.
NHP reminded drivers that it’s the law in Nevada to move over one lane away from law enforcement vehicles and emergency vehicles when the emergency or amber lights are on. If not possible, motorists must slow down to a reasonable speed or reduce their speed below the posted speed.
According to MoveOverAmerica.com, 43 states have similar laws.
