A Utah state trooper has a near-death experience for the second time in six months
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Leah Asmelash, CNN
(CNN) — A Utah state highway trooper narrowly avoided death this week, for the second time in six months.
Trooper Riley Rugg was helping a driver Monday evening when an oncoming vehicle smashed into his patrol car, sending the police vehicle toward him.
Rugg just avoided the crash — jumping behind a highway barrier to protect himself.
His car wasn’t as lucky, with the bumper hanging off and the back windshield obliterated.
Rugg experienced a similar incident on July 4, he told CNN affiliate KTVX.
While he attended to a highway accident, a speeding Ford F-350 rolled over the top of his squad car, he told KTVX. Rugg had just walked away and escaped the incident without a scratch.
“Just a mile an hour or two difference in speed could have made the situation a lot different, better or worse, so I’m just grateful how it happened that we weren’t injured,” he said.
Still, Rugg told KTVX he saw “a little bit, maybe, of my life flashing before my eyes” after the run-in this week.
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