A Maryland State Police trooper who could have been killed in a terrifying crash hopes his story reminds drivers to move over and slow down when they approach any vehicle stopped on the side of the road.
Trooper Brian DeHaven had pulled over a car for speeding on Interstate 270 southbound early Dec. 1 when a second car with a distracted driver swerved off the road to the shoulder and headed straight for him.
“So I closed my eyes when he went to hit me, and he ended up dragging me for approximately 10-15 feet on the ground,” he said. “After everything stopped – of course I’m hearing glass popping, metal grinding – and everything stopped and I opened up my eyes … His left front tire was actually right at my left side of my head and the jersey wall was to the right side of my head, and I had this little sliver of space that I was laying in.”
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DeHaven was left with a fractured pelvis, three broken ribs, a lacerated liver and eight fractures to his lower back.
“Everything running through your head, you know, is that the last time you’re going to see your family, you know,” he said. “All those type feelings going through your head.”
Quick thinking by a passing Montgomery County police officer got him medical attention, but he has been on a long road to recovery ever since.
While DeHaven looks like he’s put back together pretty well, he has at least one more surgery.
“They’re actually going to rebreak my pelvis and line it back up,” he said.
He said he is blessed and lucky to be alive, but he is pleading with drivers to pay attention to any vehicle that’s stopped on the side of the road — move over or at least slow down when moving over isn’t an option.
Maryland law requires drivers to move over or change lanes when they see emergency vehicles — and just this month, the law was expanded to "require motorists to make a lane change or slow down when approaching any stopped, standing, or parked vehicle displaying warning signals – including hazard warning lights, road flares, or other caution signals including traffic cones, caution signs, or non-vehicular warning signs," officials said.
