In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> Omelet wrote:
>
> >> At a minimum, manslaughter charges will be filed, IMHO.
> >>
> >> Lew
> >
> > Odds are it was deliberate. Cop killers do not get cut any slack... and
> > that's as it should be. I hope he gets life in prison.
>
> I have no details about the incident, but I would not jump to the
> conclusion that a cop hit at the side of a highway on a traffic stop is
> intentional. It happens a lot. When I was working we used to work
> closely with the provincial police and three of the guys out of the
> local detachment were killed on the job.
>
> In one case, the cop had left our inspection station to check out a car
> that had run out of gas on a bridge about 15 miles down the road. He
> stopped behind the car with his lights flashing. He was parked on the
> upward slope of the overpass, so his lights would have been visible for
> miles. A truck ran right over his cruiser and he was killed.
>
> In the second case, the cop was assisting another officer at a roadside
> traffic stop. He was standing outside the driver's window and was
> clipped by a passing car.... hit and run. It turned out to be an old man
> who didn't know he had hit anything.
>
> On the third case, the cop was on paid duty doing speed enforcement in a
> construction zone. He was parked on the grass to the right of the paved
> and the gravel shoulder. There are several coincidences here. I had
> just met that cop a few days earlier and he had just moved into a house
> on the next road, directly behind my house. The other is that a former
> co-worker witnessed the whole thing. The truck was driving along in the
> left of two lanes. He moved from the left lane to the right, across the
> paved should, the gravel shoulder and right over top of the cruiser. He
> had fallen asleep at the wheel.....at 8 am.
>
>
> The fact is that a lot of cops are killed by cars on traffic stops.
> They use lights and flashers to alert people to their presence, but the
> lights can be more of a distraction. The lights also seem to be a lure
> for drunks. Sometimes the cops just get complacent and stand too close
> to the edge of the road, or step out in front of traffic. You can't be
> too careful because there are too many distracted drivers. They day
> dream, read, curl their hair, apply makeup, talk on cell phones, send
> text messages etc.

Okay, I get your point... It's why I feel that pulled over drivers
should pull over to the RIGHT shoulder, not the left on the freeway.
It'd give the cop at least a little more protection. :-(
--
Peace! Om

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