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- A Utah Highway Patrol trooper narrowly avoided a collision on U.S. 40, captured on camera May 27.
- The incident underscores the need for drivers to maintain safe distances and to slow down and move over when they see crashes or emergency lights up the road.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Highway Patrol on Tuesday was cautioning drivers to do better after a recent narrow miss involving a trooper on U.S. 40 between Heber and Park City.
Trooper Alexander Agin said he was part of the response to a two-car crash on May 27 when a truck driver became distracted by the crash, nearly rear-ended a car in front of it and instead swerved.
"That's when I heard the brakes lock up and a big white truck headed right towards me," Agin said.
He was looking to cross the road at the time and said he jumped straight back.
"If I would have gone left or right, it could have been a different incident, but I jumped straight back," Agin said. "I would say it was less than a foot at highway speeds — 50 to 60 miles per hour."
Agin's body camera captured the moment, as well as the trooper's interaction with the driver after the truck came to a stop.
"She had a bigger panic on her than I did," Agin said. "Fortunately, (she) pulled over, and we had a great conversation."
Agin could be heard in the video asking the woman if she was OK.
"Yeah," she could be heard responding. "I'm just so glad you're OK."
The woman said she needed to sit there for a moment, and the trooper asked her what she had learned from the incident.
"Well, I guess (it's) to not follow too closely," she could be heard saying.
Agin said it was always extremely important, but especially during Utah's '100 Deadliest Days,' for drivers not to follow too closely and to slow down and move over when they see crashes or emergency lights up the road.
"This is only three very close calls that I've had," the trooper said. "You get home safely. In correlation, that gets me and my partners home safely."
