Edmonton police officer struck by car while investigating crash

Police expert collision investigators at the scene of a crash on the Yellowhead Trail near Victoria Trail in Edmonton on Nov. 21, 2009. A police officer was taken to hospital after she was hit by a car while she investigated another crash.
Photo: Ryan Jackson, edmontonjournal.com

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Source: Edmonton Journal

ALBERTA - Poor driving conditions during Edmonton’s first snowy day in November were partly to blame for a crash that sent a police officer to hospital.

The constable was at the scene of a Saturday afternoon crash, on the Yellowhead Trail at the base of the Victoria Trail on-ramp, when at about 3:45 p.m., she was hit by a truck coming down the ramp.

The cars involved in the first collision had been towed away, and the constable was grabbing documents from her trunk when the driver of the small pickup lost control and crashed into the back of her cruiser, said traffic section Sgt. Dave Thomson.

“She was thrown a number of metres,” Thomson said.

Frozen slush made the ramp slippery, and investigators say poor driving conditions likely played a role in the crash.

The constable, a north division officer with 10 years experience, was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital. She was reportedly talking when she was transported from the crash scene.

Being hit like this is a risk of the job, and Thomson stressed the importance of slowing down when officers are working.

“It sends a shiver down the spine of anyone who works where there’s traffic going by,” he said.

The crashes were two of more than 200 that had police scrambling in a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday night.