This happened to Fort Worth police officer Matthew Lesell earlier this week.

Be forewarned, the video is not easy to watch.  And there's more to the story.

Officer Lesell had just pulled over the driver in the black car and walked up to the driver's window when the accident happened.

The white car plowed into the back of the black car and officer Lesell too, which sent him flying over the hood and onto the ground.  Amazingly, he gets up and walks to the side, but you can tell he's in pain.  And shock, I'm sure.  It turned out to be anything but a routine traffic stop on Interstate 30, near Oakland Boulevard in east Fort Worth.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports Lesell is recovering now from a hyper-extended foot and a fractured vertebra, and estimates that he’ll be out of work for about another month.

We're all wondering what was going through the mind of the driver who hit Lesell, and drunk driving is suspected.  No word yet if charges will be filed.

Lesell's wife is a trauma nurse, and she knows the accident could have been much worse.  Lesell himself has said he doesn't really know how he walked away from the accident without more serious injuries, but we're all glad he did.

And for the rest of us, we should keep in mind that it's the law in Texas to move over one lane when there are flashing lights on the side of the road, to give responders the space they need to do their jobs.  If it's not safe to move over, the law says to slow down to 20 mph below the posted speed limit to pass.

It only takes a second to shift to the next lane, and it could help officers avoid injury, or worse.  And it could save some time in court too.

 

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