Oklahoma Highway Patrol
An Oklahoma trooper is lucky to be alive after a distracted driver nearly took their lives. The incident was captured on the Oklahoma state trooper’s dashboard camera and has since gone viral.
The trooper had pulled a white SUV over to the right side of the road for a routine stop. They were speaking with the driver through the passenger-side window when a black SUV collided with the driver-side of the vehicle and it sent Trooper Jesse Gregory #362 flying through the air.
Fortunately, he was able to quickly get up and assess the situation and it’s a downright miracle the trooper wasn’t seriously injured. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol released footage of the collision on Facebook and shared it with media outlets in order to show the perils of distracted driving:
The incident occurred on a stretch of Oklahoma’s I-40 highway and resulted in three people, the trooper included, being sent to the hospital for injuries.
According to KOCO, the three were all released after being treated for their injuries. A spokesman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said they “show this video as a graphic reminder of the consequences of distracted or impaired driving and the importance of the slow down, move over law.”
The specific cause of the crash has yet to be (legally) determined but it is being treated as a Distracted Driving incident but make no mistake about it, this was an incredibly close brush with death for Trooper Jesse Greggory.
Approaching the vehicle from the passenger-side saved his life. And if the colliding vehicle had hit from another angle he might not have survived like he did.
Be careful out there. Especially when the roads are icy.