Car accidents can be dangerous or fatal, leaving people to deal with the consequences of a driver who was negligent or reckless. One such case took place on March 30 when an Illinois state trooper was killed on Interstate 94.
This wasn’t the first time the trooper faced death. When the trooper was new to the job, he responded to a call that a man was attempting to jump off an overpass. The officer shut down traffic on Interstate 94, but a driver who didn’t want to wait went around the closure and struck him. This happened at the same time that the man jumped from the bridge.
At that time, it was a fortunate case, and both the man who jumped and the officer survived. Sadly, the officer was again struck on Interstate 94 at the end of March. This time, it was fatal.
He was inside his marked vehicle when a wrong-way driver struck his vehicle at around 3:25 a.m. The Illinois State Police reported that he was rushed to Condell Medical Center after the head-on crash but passed away at approximately 4:04 a.m., just a short time after the impact. Sadly, the other driver was also killed.
It’s cases like this one that make it so important for people to know about the move-over laws and to be sure they’re driving safely at night. Police officers and other emergency personnel put their lives on the line when they’re on the highways, and they should get the respect of others for doing so. Simply paying attention to the road and approaching with caution could save countless lives.