Severe Crash Injured Police Officer on Interstate 20 in DeKalb, Georgia
DEKALB COUNTY, GA- Wsbtv.com writes that a two-vehicle collision sent a police officer to the hospital earlier this week. The crash occurred on Interstate 20 and involved a patrol car from the DeKalb County police department and another car.*
Reports indicate that the officer was on the shoulder of the road, where he was completing paperwork when another vehicle drove into the back of his car. The crash flipped the patrol car onto its side.
The officer sustained injuries but is expected to recover fully. The images from the crash scene indicate that the police vehicle suffered serious damage to its rear, especially on the driver's side.
The collision slowed traffic in the area as responders directed drivers off of Interstate 20.
Rear-end crashes are almost always the fault of the driver in the back. These crashes, which are often minor fender benders, but which also kill about 1,700 people each year, are entirely preventable. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about 87 percent of rear-end accidents occur because a driver fails to pay attention to traffic ahead of them on the road.
Counting on people to drive responsibly will probably not result in a massive reduction in these crashes. However, technology could drastically cut rear-end collisions. One study indicated that Automatic Emergency Braking systems would cut these accidents by about 50 percent. Even warning systems are fairly effective at reducing rear-end accidents. Since most crashes are caused by inattentive drivers, the alert system is effective at lowing the number of collisions by about 27 percent.
While this technology exists, it will be a long time before the majority of vehicles on the road are equipped with these crash prevention systems.
Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes. To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.
Sources:
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/officer-involved-crash-closes-lanes-on-i-20-wb-in-dekalb-county/1015740718
https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-alerts/Documents/SA-046.pdf
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/technology/five-vehicle-safety-technologies-that-can-help-you-avoid-a-crash/article36533631/