Bad driving has become an epidemic in this country. An accident doesn’t need to occur in order to determine a driver’s aptitude. But, accidents do happen. Unfortunately, certain accidents could be avoided if people actually cared about the rules of the road, both written and unwritten.
The Illinois State Police (ISP) posted a tweet earlier this week reporting that a ridiculous 13 Illinois State Troopers have been hit by vehicle “while working incidents with their emergency lights activated” this year alone!
Take a look:
🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔
— IllinoisStatePolice (@ILStatePolice) March 19, 2019
13.
That’s the number of ISP Troopers that have been struck, one fatally, while working incidents with their emergency lights activated since January 1, 2019.
MOVE OVER AND SLOW DOWN
The impetus for ISP’s tweet was yet another officer being struck in their squad car while conducting a traffic stop. ISP brought up Scott’s Law, which is a law that requires motorists to move over to another lane when approaching a stationary authorized emergency vehicle.
Unfortunately, the number of troopers struck by motorists increased to 14 on Wednesday evening, just a day after the ISP tweet. An ISP trooper's vehicle was smashed by a semi-truck while the trooper was assisting others after an accident on a Southern Illinois highway, not far from St. Louis, Mo.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the number of reported crashes increased from 5,338,000 in 2011 to 6,296,000 in 2015, gradually increasing year after year in that time period.
I wonder why?
It's just my opinion, but people don't seem to care to use their turn signals anymore. People use turn lanes as merge lanes to cut back into regular traffic. People make turns from the lane furthest away from the direction they're turning. Oh, and people care more about their phone than the people around them.
The turn signal issue is my biggest pet peeve. You’re supposed to use your turn signal to let others know that something might be going on in that general area shortly thereafter. The word “signal” is literally in the title of the device and practice. Just needed to get that off my chest.
As far as the safety of law enforcement goes, don’t be a jerk. Move over when possible, and either way, slow down!
H/T: CBS 2 - Chicago