Officials in Catoosa, Oklahoma are breathing a sigh of relief after a semi-truck crushed a parked patrol car and hit a firetruck as all of the associated public safety officers escaped without injury despite the carnage. Police believe that several factors led to the crash but the investigation is still ongoing.
Catoosa is just east of Tulsa on highway 412. The officer and firefighters were responding to a rollover crash where that highway intersects with the Creek Turnpike when the accident happened. According to Catoosa Police Chief Ronnie Benight, the safety workers scrambled to safety before the impact and subsequent destruction occurred.
According to Benight, no cause has yet been determined. “In my opinion many things led to this particular incident which also included the high winds which led us to be there in the first place,” he said in a post on Facebook. He nor any other official department has yet to comment on if tiredness, distraction, or some other factor could’ve played a role in the crash.
More: Tow Truck Slams Into Stationary Police Cars, Officers Lucky Not To Be Hurt
Photos Catoosa Police Department
The local fire department confirmed that all of its people were okay after the incident. It also said that surrounding fire companies from Rolling Hills provided aid to keep the station running while they recovered from the accident. There’s no word on the condition of the truck driver at this time.
The instruction to move over and slow down is a consistent admonition from public safety officers. In fact, in most states, it’s a law that drivers should always move over and slow down when approaching parked emergency vehicles on the roadside.
The NHTSA says that in 2021, 65 emergency workers died as a result of traffic accidents. That’s up from 47 in 2017. The issue is such a big problem that the agency launched an entire campaign around it back in October of 2022.
