Virginia (VA) State Troopers Injured in Auto Accident

Usually when there is an auto accident in Virginia (VA) it's the police that respond and help the injured drivers, take reports for insurance, and call a wrecker.  This time it was two of Virginia's finest that were seriously injured in an auto accident.  A Virginia State Police trooper was seriously injured in a car crash that happened as the trooper was responding to the scene of a separate car crash involving another state trooper on I-395 in Virginia.

Trooper R.C. Weeks immediately responded to a call that another officer was hurt, and as he was coming around the ramp from Route 644 west to I-395 south, the patrol vehicle ran off the road, spun out, and struck the jersey wall.  There is no news yet if it was a vehicle malfunction or there was any debris on the road that caused the trooper to lose control.  As in most auto accidents, he suffered serious injuries but thankfully they were not life-threatening.

The trooper involved in the first crash, B.J. Sisk, had been heading headed south on I-395 with flashing lights on, headed to an emergency call. Suddenly a Lincoln Town Car in front of him in the left lane slammed on the brakes and stopped.

The trooper was able to stop his car in time but seconds later another driver rear-ended his patrol car at about 65 mph, pushing the state trooper's car into the Lincoln Town Car.  There is no excuse for someone to rear end a police car that has lights and sirens on at 65 mph, was the
driver even looking  at the road?

 
The driver of the Lincoln Town Car that stopped suddenly in front of the trooper was charged with reckless driving. The driver of the Acura, who rear-ended the trooper's, was charged with reckless driving.   Geller said both crashes remain under investigation.

I hope both officers recover quickly and do not suffer long term consequences from this accident.  But chances are that they will, and this may put the rest of their police careers in jeopardy or end them all together.  The reason is that the most common injuries stemming from a car crash are to the neck and back. The most common is whiplash and happens when the head is suddenly and violently thrust forward, then backwards when your vehicle is rear-ended.  What actually occurs in a whiplash injury is the neck hyper extends. The sensitive tendons and muscles can be damaged even at very low speeds, as low as 16 mph, so imagine the damage at 65mph!

Whiplash symptoms comes in all sizes and shapes, including: neck pain, swelling, tenderness in the back of the neck, muscles spasms in the side or back of the neck, difficulty moving the head and neck, headache, and sometimes a shooting pain from the neck down the arms. In addition, the neck can be sprained, strained, or even fractured.  Also, back pain is very common as an injury and symptoms such as pain and soreness can indicate a much more serious injury.  As experienced auto accident attorneys we have handled automobile accident cases all over Virginia and those involving injured first responders including, police, fire and rescue.    

CA