LINCOLN – Over 150 weather-related incidents occurred during this season’s first winter weather storm in Nebraska.
According to a release from the Nebraska State Patrol, one of those incidents involved a trooper’s patrol unit being struck by a semi, while the trooper responded to another crash.
At approximately 8:50 p.m. on Friday, December 10 emergency crews responded to a crash near Elm Creek on Interstate 80. An eastbound semi had lost control, crossed the median and struck another semi and a Chevrolet Traverse. The driver of the Chevrolet was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the hospital and has since been released.
While responding to that crash, a trooper parked his patrol unit in the median. Another semi then jack-knifed while approaching the crash scene and struck the patrol unit, totaling it. Thankfully, the trooper was outside the vehicle at the time and was not injured, nor was the semi driver. The entire crash scene blocked both directions of travel on Interstate 80 for approximately three hours.
NSP officials are extremely thankful that the trooper was not injured as the incident could have been tragic. This is a prime example of why troopers plead with motorists to slow down in winter driving conditions.
In total, Nebraska State Patrol responded to 35 crashes, performed 117 motorist assists and assisted other agencies in 29 incidents. Approximately half of those incidents occurred after 6:00 p.m. last Friday.
Drivers are reminded to check road conditions with 511 Nebraska before traveling, wear your seat belt and watch your speed.
