Trooper who was nearly crushed on I-25 urges caution around moved-over vehicles

By Jamie Leary

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    ADAMS COUNTY, Colorado (KCNC) — The Colorado state trooper who was nearly crushed during a traffic stop by a distracted driver tells CBS4 it was the closest he’s come to being killed in his 24-year-long career. On Feb. 17, at around noon, Trooper Travis Hood says it was a typical traffic stop for him along Interstate 25 in Adams County.

“Over the various troops that I’ve worked, I’ve had crazy experiences. This probably tops them all,” said Hood.

He was in the process of gathering the driver’s information to issue a speeding ticket.

“I went back to my motorcycle and started a citation for the speed,” he said.

Hood was at his motorcycle for about 2 minutes when the driver of a minivan careened into the pulled-over sedan.

“There’s usually a breeze along the freeway because of the traffic. I felt, like, a surge of hot air rush by me, and I looked up and I saw the crash and cars spinning out, and cars avoiding that collision,” he recalled. “I think in this situation other people were paying attention to what was going on because we could have had a major crash here involving numerous vehicles — instead it was two.”

Hood says he first ran to check on the condition of the drivers. While both sustained injuries, he says they were “mild to moderate.”

So what exactly caused the driver of the minivan to crash into the sedan?

“From the troopers that investigated the crash, they asked her and she didn’t know. She kept saying she didn’t know what had happened. There was no impairment suspected. I don’t know if it was the phone, but obviously there was some form of distraction that played into the crash,” he said.

The driver of the minivan was cited for careless driving causing bodily injury. As for the driver Hood initially stopped for speeding? Hood decided to cut him a break.

“I feel like that was the right thing to do, voiding the ticket … and whenever he comes through this area he’s probably going to be thinking about his speed.”

Hood says if there’s one thing he hopes drivers take away from his close call: to always be mindful of vehicles on the shoulder.

“A situation on the freeway can happen either on the left shoulder or the right shoulder, but prior to coming up on the lights, have a plan to move over a lane or slow down at least 20 mph below the speed limit. They need be looking beyond their hood, they need to look out ahead to see what’s going on, see what other traffic is doing, see where the lights are and then try to come up with a plan to move the other direction,” he said.

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