Police Officer Car Accidents

A patrol officer with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department was injured recently when his patrol car collided with a pickup truck on Indiana 149 and County Road 550N, according to a recent article in The Post-Tribune.

As an experienced Indiana police officer accident attorney, I have seen too many cases in which one driver’s distraction leaves an officer injured. When this happens, the entire community pays as one less officer is available to serve while he or she heals from the injuries.

The officer was on his way to the scene of a car accident where injuries were reported. He had turned on his patrol vehicle’s lights and siren and was driving south on Indiana 149. As he approached the intersection of Indiana 149 and County Road 550N, the officer saw a pickup truck ahead of him that had slowed. The officer moved to the left in order to pass the truck, but the truck turned left directly in front of the patrol vehicle, which could not avoid crashing into it. The driver of the truck later told investigators that he did not see the officer’s lights or hear the siren before making that left-hand turn.

The officer was transported to Porter Hospital in Valparaiso with injuries to his head, neck, and back. His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening. The driver of the pickup truck was not hurt.

Police cars use lights and sirens to warn other vehicles on the road of their approach. The bright colored flashes and loud noise are intended to make other drivers pay attention and get out of the police vehicle’s way. Unfortunately, when another driver is too distracted to notice an oncoming police vehicle, accidents like this one are likely to occur.

An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer was injured in a crash while chasing a suspect in the Northside neighborhood of Indianapolis, according to a recent article in the Indy Star.

The officer was chasing a suspect who had fled, in his vehicle, after another officer had pulled him over for a traffic violation. He was rounding the corner at 38th Street and Illinois Street when another officer, who had been holding up traffic in his own police cruiser, joined the chase and hit the first officer’s car.

The officer in the first car suffered an injured shoulder and was taken to a local health center to be treated for the injury. Although no updates have been released as to the officer’s health, the injury did not appear to be life-threatening.

The suspect whose escape set the chase in motion later abandoned his car near the corner of Boulevard Place and 42nd Street and ran away from the scene on foot. Police are still looking for that suspect.

According to the website for the Indiana Police Officers Memorial, 15 percent of the officers killed in the line of duty by the end of the last decade lost their lives in car accidents while on duty. Many more are injured each year in Indiana police car accidents. Thanks to better training and equipment, the number of officers killed in felonious assaults has decreased, but unfortunately, the number of officers killed or injured in auto accidents has risen.