MARSHALL COUNTY, Ind. -- The latest snow also has created ravel trouble for the morning commute and then some.
A Marshall County Sheriff's deputy was sent to the hospital when his patrol car got hit by an out-of-control driver while he was on the scene of a prior crash.
Indiana State Police say this is type of incident is preventable, even in sub-optimal driving conditions due to weather, and are calling on everyone to slow down.
It hasn't been a good start to the new year for incidents involving law enforcement vehicles, with several across multiple counties.
“Road conditions aren't an excuse to lose control and crash. Some of those, it's been a driver who's under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but in the majority of them, it's just been a driver that's been driving too fast for the road conditions, and then ends up sliding into a police vehicle that's there to help somebody that's already been in a crash and we had an example of that today on US 31 where a Marshall County vehicle was hit while he was assisting somebody else,” said Sergeant Ted Bohner with ISP.
Sergeant Bohner says state troopers are doing everything they can to make sure drivers can tell from a far distance that law enforcement is on the side of the road, trying to be of help. The Marshall County Sheriff's department echoing that sentiment.
"We make sure all the lights are activated on our squad cars, we try to get a secondary or third car in the area of the accident, quite a ways away from the accident scene to try and draw people's attention, hey there's an accident up the road. We always try and contact whatever the appropriate agency is, whether it's a county highway or a state highway to try and get abrasives down in that area to help with traction for vehicles,” said Lieutenant Detective Les McFarland of Marshall County.
In our conversations with both departments, one thing was emphasized repeatedly - speed is an issue.
“We're starting to live in a fast-paced society where you're always in a hurry to get your kids to a game, you're in a hurry to get to work, you're in a hurry for whatever reason but we have to start slowing down,” said McFarland.
"I describe it as heads up driving, so often drivers are focused just right there on the front of their hood and what's happening directly in front of them, even more so when there's bad weather, but that's when it's a good idea to lift up your view a little bit and watch what's happening down the road, that way you can adjust your speed, maybe change lanes, without it being a panic type move, and there's where that can really save you,” said Sergeant Bohner.
Sergeant Bohner tells ABC57 another dangerous trend he's seeing more and more has been a lack of patience from drivers, which has led to what he referred to as unacceptable road rage incidents.