PHOENIX — For the last 17 years, Arizona State Trooper Clinton Schmidt has never encountered a situation quite like what happened to him in the wee hours of Sunday morning. As he sat in the driver's seat of his patrol car along the shoulder of Interstate 17 in Phoenix, he felt a jolt from the back side of his car.
“I felt like I was okay, but my adrenaline was still pumping pretty good," Schmidt told 12News.
A white water or gas truck collided with the rear of Schmidt's unit near the on-ramp of the southbound Peoria Avenue exit. Despite the crash occurring at a high rate of speed on the shoulder of a highway, Schmidt escaped with only minor neck pains.
When additional troopers arrived on the scene, they conducted multiple tests on the driver of the truck, all of them yielding negative results for any kind of impairment. However, the driver's recollection of what caused the crash eventually revealed the truth.
“He initially told me that he had fallen asleep. He said he had a long night. During later parts of the investigation, he ended up finally admitting that he was messing with his phone," Schmidt said.
Distracted driving. Schmidt said it's one of the leading causes of highway collisions in Arizona, and the actions drivers are performing can run the gamut.
“As we patrol around the freeways, you'll see a car swerving, and it's not necessarily they're drunk, or they're drinking or whatever's causing an impairment," Schmidt said. "You'll just pull up next to them, and there's the phone right in their hand. They're texting. You'll see them watching YouTube videos while they're driving down the road.”
This incident also spotlights an Arizona law, Schmidt says, only about a third of drivers in the Phoenix metro area actually follow: The Move Over Law.
“If you see any flashing lights, it doesn't have to be a police car or fire truck or anything like that, a tow truck pulled over somebody that broke down, if their hazards are going it's required that you move over," Schmidt said.
The trooper points to potentially a lack of education on the law or even laziness as the main contributors to the lack of cooperation. He hopes what happened to him can serve as a friendly reminder that could save a life in the future.
"I would just ask, just slow down for us. Pay attention, give us a little space," Schmidt said.
To read more about Arizona's Move Over Law, click here.
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