With an uptick in troopers hit, officers remind motorists to slow down

Since the end of 2013, four local Iowa State Patrol cars have been struck by other motorists while on the side of the road.

That number for the State Patrol's district 11 - which covers Johnson, Linn, Benton, Iowa, Tama and Poweshiek counties - might seem low until you consider that in all of 2013, there were only three such collisions.

The most dramatic collision by far happened on the morning of March 14.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, a trooper was parked on the north shoulder of the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 for a crash investigation. The trooper's squad car lights were activated and other emergency response vehicles, including a Johnson County sheriff's deputy, also were parked along the side of the road.

According to a State Patrol report, two vehicles - a semi and a pickup - were passing through the crash scene. While both vehicles moved to the left lane as required by law, police said the semi driver - who was behind the truck - was distracted by the crash scene, failed to slow down and rear-ended the truck. The truck was sent careening across both lanes of traffic, went airborne and hit the trooper's squad car.

The truck-squad car collision was captured on the Johnson County deputy's patrol car dash camera and later picked up by media outlets across the country. The trooper suffered minor injuries in the collision.

The driver of the semi later was cited for failure to maintain control.

'Your first reaction is just an absolute, ‘Wow,'” said Iowa State Patrol Lt. Randy Jones, commander of district 11. 'Unbelievable.”

Close calls

Law enforcement officers who work the state's highways - and district 11 has two major interstates in Interstate 80 and 380 - said close calls such as the one that happened in March are part of the accepted risk law enforcement takes each day.

At the same time, police believe there is more the public can and should do to make officers safer.

'If they can't get over, they need to slow down,” said Sgt. Scott Bright, public information officer for the State Patrol. 'If they see the lights, it's the law, they need to move over.

'People aren't obeying that, and that's why we see these troopers hit. We're just very fortunate we haven't lost a trooper this year.”

Jones, of the State Patrol, said troopers are trained and given tips to minimize the potential for injury in the event their squad car is struck. It begins with training at the law enforcement academy, he said.

'We always tell our officers, ‘Always have your head up, always look at oncoming traffic,'” he said. 'Know where you need to go. Know your best place to run or dive. Always try to think one step ahead.”

Officers are trained to approach vehicles from behind and from the passenger side. They also turn their wheels slightly so if the squad car is hit, it doesn't go forward as easily.

But Jones said he doesn't think stiffer enforcement or higher penalties are needed to get motorists to slow down - just a little common sense.

'I think it's a matter of education and awareness,” he said. 'I don't think people are trying to harm us and put us in danger. The public just needs to think, ‘What if that was me on the side of the road?'”

Local sheriff's offices spend their fair share of time on the interstate and local highways, but have fared better than their state patrol counterparts in terms of officers hit.

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said he could not think of a time when one of his deputies had been struck by another motorist.

But Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek recalled one incident in which a semi truck driver failed to slow down when passing a parked squad car, lost control and slammed into the side of the squad car.

'Two deputies were injured and could have been killed,” Pulkrabek said.

Difficult to enforce

Failure to comply with the law can result in a $100 file, plus court costs and surcharges. If a violation results in property damage, injury or death, the driver can lose his or her license for up to one year.

But while the law is a valuable tool on paper, holding drivers to it is an entirely different matter all together.

'It's hard to enforce because, unless you have another law enforcement officer observe it, it's hard to write,” Scott said.

In all of 2013, only 65 citations for move-over violations were written by all state patrol troopers.

Gardner said his deputies wrote up move-over citations five times in 2013. He acknowledged that enforcement of the law is a concern, but it can be done.

'The way that normally happens is there is more than one patrol car at the incident ... or the sole officer is just concluding whatever the incident is,” he said. 'He can leave the scene and do the traffic stop.

'You do have the video evidence in the patrol cars. You could read the plate number and you could do some further investigation.”

But, as Pulkrabek noted, 'most of the time, when a deputy is pulled over on the side of the road, they're already busy. They don't have the time or the ability to chase someone down.”