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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Highway Patrol is circulating a new video it hopes will wake up drivers to the potential dangers of roadside crashes.
The video, posted to YouTube, Facebook and UHP's website, is a compilation of graphic dash cam videos of violent roadside collisions across the country and in Utah.
"I mean, I've had to jump over a wall," Sgt. Todd Royce said. "You talk to any trooper or law enforcement officer out there, they can tell you the close calls that they've had."
The video includes a clip of the collision on I-15 near Cedar City that left trooper David Schiers seriously injured in July.
Other dash cam footage first appeared in a law enforcement training video titled, "Your Vest Won't Stop These Bullets."
Royce noted the state law that requires drivers to slow down and cautiously pass emergency and other vehicles stopped on the side of the road, moving over whenever the neighboring lane is clear.
You talk to any trooper or law enforcement officer out there, they can tell you the close calls that they've had.
–Sgt. Todd Royce
"Troopers are pretty strict with it because they know that emergency personnel off to the side of the road — they need to be safe," Royce said.
For Cpl. Zach Randall, it's on his mind every time he stops a car along one of Salt Lake County's freeways.
"Knock on wood, I've never been hit," Randall said. "But I think that's pretty rare."
Randall said that's especially rare considering he's been with UHP for seven years.
"There's not many troopers that I can think of who haven't been hit," Randall said, noting that the damage is usually to the troopers' vehicles. "I've had to kind of run up against a barrier or run out of the way."
Randall said he and other troopers recognize the risk themselves and try to stay out of harm's way.
"I guess I just kind of consider myself lucky," he said. "I just do what I can to minimize the risk. I know it's not if — it's when."
