Box truck driver swerves out of lane, sideswiped Colorado State Patrol trooper
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado State Patrol is reminding drivers to pay attention and stay in their lane after a trooper had a close call with a box truck that swerved out of its lane.
Tuesday, a box truck traveling westbound on Meadows Parkway (Highway 85) in the center lane suddenly veered to the right, sideswiping an unmarked Colorado State Trooper's cruiser.
While both vehicles were going an estimated 10 mph at the time of impact, the cruiser suffered moderate damage when the box truck temporarily hooked onto the car before separating.
CSP said no injuries were reported.
“We find a variety of reasons people fail to drive in their designated lane, but some of the most common are driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, driving aggressively, or being distracted behind the wheel,” stated Sgt. Troy Kessler of Colorado State Patrol in a press release. “In this case, the driver wasn’t paying attention to where he was headed. He was looking at his GPS because he was unfamiliar with the area and his truck moved into the adjacent lane. No road, weather, or other extenuating circumstance contributed to the crash.”
In 2022, troopers made more than 12,650 proactive traffic stops for lane violations.
According to CSP, distraction has consistently been one of the top causal factors for serious injury and fatal crashes in Colorado for the last five years.
