SUV hits stranded car, narrowly misses Euless officer

A Euless police officer was nearly hit when a driver slammed into a stranded car along highway 183.

The officer's dash camera caught the crash Saturday along Highway 183. A Euless officer was up on the road helping a mother and child in a stranded car.

In spite of state law, no one was slowing down. Then, an SUV driving by lost control and rolled after narrowly missing the officer and hitting the disabled car. A mother and child were in the disabled car when it was hit.

Officer Shawn Bushee's dash cam captured the close call.

"It could have been tragic. There was nowhere to go,” the officer said. “Somebody could have been pushed over the overpass. Someone could have been ejected from the vehicle and injured or killed. I could have been struck by the vehicle. The tow truck operator could have been struck by a vehicle."

The officer called for help and blocked the road and then checked on the driver of the overturned SUV. She told the officer she was trying to plug in her phone when she slammed into the car.

Police say the mother and child weren't injured. The SUV driver had minor injuries. The tow truck driver standing next to a construction wall wasn't hurt.

Because of road construction, the section of 183 near Industrial is three lanes with no shoulder. The dash cam video shows no one was moving over or slowing down as required by state law when emergency vehicles are stopped on the road.

“It’s a perfect example. People are driving 70-80 miles an hour. They're on their phone. They’re looking at their radio. They’re talking to kids in the car,” Bushee said. “There’s too many distractions in a vehicle to be traveling that fast.”

Bushee says the accident is his closest call in the 15 years he's been an officer.

Police say the law requiring drivers to slow down is designed to protect everyone, including people driving past the emergency vehicles.

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