* Unreal…

Illinois State Police (ISP) District 11 Commander William Guard announces the fourteenth ISP squad car to be struck statewide in 2019 as a result of a Scott’s Law violation.

On Wednesday, March 21, 2019 at approximately 10:54 p.m., an ISP Trooper was struck while assisting in the investigation of a traffic crash on Interstate 55 northbound at milepost 9.4, St. Clair County. The initial crash, reported at 10:29 p.m., involved a vehicle that left the roadway and struck a light pole. The pole fell across the lanes of traffic and seven additional vehicles struck the downed pole prior to ISP Troopers arriving. The first ISP squad car arrived at approximately 10:39 p.m. to stop traffic and move vehicles around the downed pole.

When the third ISP squad car arrived at approximately 10:42 p.m., the Trooper positioned himself further back away from the scene to slow the approaching vehicles prior to them arriving at the initial scene of the downed pole. The Trooper was on foot, outside of his marked squad car with lights activated, when both he and his squad car were struck by a passing truck tractor, semi-trailer combination. The Trooper was transported by ambulance to a local hospital with serious, but stable injuries.

The Illinois State Police Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit and Zone 6 Investigations are continuing the investigation into this incident. No additional information will be released at this time.

* Here’s the car…

       

28 Comments - wordslinger - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 9:50 am: The job is tough enough — it shouldn’t be life and death for a traffic stop. Slow down and move over, for crying out loud. - austinman - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 9:54 am: This s so sad, thank God that the trooper will recover. Dont know why this keep happening but it has got to stop. - Louis G. Atsaves - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 9:57 am: On my drive in to the city today, at least 2 dozen autos, SUV’s and vans were driving on the shoulders. Two stalled vehicles were on the shoulders. On a recent interstate drive to Jacksonville, FL, I witnessed several incidents where drivers passed on shoulders. People need to begin to respect the shoulders and emergency lanes and what they are supposed to be used for. Seriously, folks. - A Jack - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 9:57 am: Perhaps they need some kind of armored vehicle when they have to slow down traffic like that. Those tiny patrol cars don’t stand much of a chance against a semi driver who may be falling asleep at that time of night. Does the state have some kind of early warning device that could hook into those semi’s GPS system? Some system that the state can trigger state-wide like the Amber alert system that can warn drivers to slow down? - Ares - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 9:58 am: A hero, as so many of our first responders are. Hope he has a quick and full recovery. - Last Bull Moose - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 10:03 am: Truck drivers are supposed to be professionals. Investigate their training, licensure, and company. It may be a little me off or part of a broader problem. - Last Bull Moose - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 10:24 am: It may be a one-off. - Give Me A Break - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 10:28 am: Those guys are sitting ducks on the shoulders when they are doing a stop. I’ve seen their cars lit up like Christmas Trees and still see people drive like they don’t see them on the shoulder. - Streator Curmudgeon - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 10:30 am: Police light bars can be seen at least a half mile away and are ALWAYS a warning to slow down and be ready to brake. Thank God this trooper was not killed. - FormerParatrooper - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 10:38 am: Was the driver distracted by his phone or tablet? We all have seen people to busy to pay attention to the road because a text or a game is far more important to them. - efudd - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 10:39 am: Driving on shoulders, excessive speeding, distracted driving, all part of our me-first culture. It doesn’t matter if I’m putting lives in danger, it’s imperative I get to my destination, NOW. - IDK - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 10:54 am: I was going to ask about the lighting systems on the cars but Streator says they are clearly visible. I don’t drive much at night but I’m sure he is right, I know if you’re attentive, you can see them in daytime hours. Perhaps all blue lights or some type of strobe light on top should be researched. Ask the patrol troopers for their insights, they’re college educated, they may have some ideas. DUI, I understand, but directly rear ending a lighted police car must be solved.Fortunately this time, we didn’t lose another trooper. - zatoichi - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 11:08 am: The only way you can miss those flashing lights is by taking your eyes off the road, particularly at night. Falling asleep, phones, getting something that fell. Serious issues for any moving vehicle. - A Jack - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 11:13 am: I think light visibility would depend on road conditions. Was it over a hill or just past a curve? Were there overpasses or other possible obstructions? And were there other semi’s blocking the view? And did the semi driver have room to get over or was there someone camped out in the passing lane? I think they need to figure out some kind of earlier warning device they can drop on the roadside a few miles from the crash site. If we are going to allow a heavy vehicle such as a semi to tavel at 70+ mph, we need a better warning device than flashing police lights for the troopers safety. - Father Ted - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 11:20 am: The damage to that car is frightening. Thank goodness the trooper was outside the vehicle when the collision happened or my guess is that we’d have an even more grim outcome. Here’s what’s ironic: based on the first sentence of the third paragraph, I’m assuming that this squad car had positioned itself further from the original crash site in order to provide more advanced warning to oncoming traffic in hopes of preventing something like this. Even when ISP is taking measures to prevent these collisions, they’re still occurring. - Rabid - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 11:45 am: Add a strobe light, pull over more to the right, approach from the passenger side so you can see the hands? - FormerGOPer - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 11:47 am: Son-in-law of our neighbors, formerly from Springfield with a wife and toddler. Thank God he’ll be “alright “ but I’m sure never the same. - Cool Papa Bell - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 11:50 am: The lights are plenty. They have never been brighter. The new LED style can seen forever on a highway. And if the Semi couldn’t pull over your expected to slow down and proceed with caution in the right lane. This is a distraction issue for drivers NOT a lighting or warning problem with ISP. Start sending an IDOT dump truck out with a Trooper and have a driver plow into one of those at 75 mph. - Anon - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 12:34 pm: As a tow truck driver, I can assure you it is not just semi truck drivers not getting over. Time of day, straight or curved roads, nor road conditions seem to make any difference. Drivers refuse to move over. Around Thanksgiving last year, we had a lane closed (with proper signage) for a recovery and a SUV started to drive through our cones to pass, fortunately the driver noticed the HD wrecker and just ran over cones returning to the driving lane. The shame of this style of driving is my company would be responsible for any wrecks.Everyone needs to make a conscious effort to move over anytime there is a vehicle on the shoulder. - XonXoff - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 1:01 pm: – The new LED style can seen forever on a highway. – Agreed. We drive often and at night the new lights are borderline blinding at times. We too see drivers frequently not moving to the left lane for vehicles or officers on the shoulder. Happens every trip. It’s maddening. - Reese's Pieces - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 2:07 pm: Perhaps there should be an automatic ticket issued to drivers of vehicles that are caught on dash cam video for not moving over. If tickets can be issued based on Red Light Camera footage, why not squad car dash cams? Automatic ticket for ANYONE not moving over. Signed, Sealed, Delivered. - Rabid - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 2:27 pm: Put in a rear window cam, violators lose driving privilege awhile - Plutocrat03 - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 7:06 pm: At some time the ISP and other enforcement agencies will realize that stopping on a shoulder is unreasonably dangerous. Escort the offender off the highway friend a safe place to stop and process them.. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Mar 21, 19 @ 7:12 pm: So terrible. These folks out there, they are there to protect us, they are facing the unknown when approaching any vehicle, for any reason. Safety via motorist unwilling to safely pass pulled over cars is one thing we all can do. - anon2 - Friday, Mar 22, 19 @ 11:37 am: Raising that speed limit to 70 mph for big rigs didn’t help. - Suburban Mom - Friday, Mar 22, 19 @ 1:29 pm: I keep seeing people on the Tri-State not moving over for state troopers on the shoulder, when it’s four lanes of EMPTY and everyone’s going 80. I get it, during rush hour it’s tough to move over, but at noon? Late at night? It’s upsetting, especially with as many crashes as there have been lately. - marylouise - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 12:45 pm: Serious, but stable injuries! And you posters think that means he will recover? Brother, how would you like to be hit by a semi while on foot? You think recover means he will go back to work just like before. He will be lucky if he ever works again. This is happening too much. And what is this about 12 autos driving on the shoulder? People are nuts today. Someone needs to catch these drivers and give them serious fines. Just like blowing stop signs in neighborhoods, etc. That is how this starts. “Oh, no one is around, so I don’t need to stop.” I saw a bus driver in my neighborhood last week make 2 right hand turns and never used the turn signal. I’m calling it in to the bus company. This driver was dropping off children - I could see them on the bus. - Anon - Friday, Mar 29, 19 @ 10:00 am: I feel that anyone who does not move over should be fined when there is an accident or anyone with their hazards on when they are on the shoulder of the road. we have to come up with a solution to be able to catch these people. there was a cop that recently lost her life and the baby she was carrying. There is just no common sense anymore with people these days. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.