WATCH: ISP trooper dodges serious injury while helping change flat tire
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MERIDIAN — Idaho State Police are asking drivers to be careful after a trooper narrowly escaped serious injury after a pickup truck came at him Wednesday morning.
Around 9:50, on eastbound Interstate 84 at South Ten Mile Road in Ada County, a trooper stopped in the median to help a driver with a flat tire. A chain-reaction crash forced the trooper to jump over a concrete barrier to avoid being hit.
“Traffic stops are very high risk. They’re necessary to keep people safe on the road and to help those stranded, but we need motorists’ help so we can all go home at night,” ISP Sgt. Brandalyn Crapo said in a news release. “Slowing down and moving over for emergency vehicles and workers isn’t just a courtesy. It’s the law. Drivers need to be alert to emergency lights and vehicles and always alert to what’s happening around them. That keeps all of us safe.”
When the crash happened, the trooper wore his yellow safety vest while his patrol vehicle with emergency lights on parked behind the stranded car.
Preliminary investigation shows one vehicle began slowing right before passing the patrol car. Another vehicle hit the slowing vehicle, causing the chain-reaction crash. The crash sent two pickups to the left, sideswiping the patrol car and the vehicle stranded with the flat tire.
The owner of the Toyota had minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital. The trooper who jumped over the barrier went to a hospital by ground ambulance. The trooper was later released with minor injuries.
“ISP wants to thank passing motorists who witnessed the close call for the trooper and immediately called 911 to report the incident,” ISP wrote.