Police officers are the first to warn drivers of the dangers of texting and driving, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t make this huge mistake, too.
William Fasanello was out riding his bike in Peculiar, Missouri, the other day, when a police cruiser hit him head-on at an intersection. The entire scene was capture on his helmet camera and he’s posted the video online, to show that you can still get into an accident even when you did nothing wrong.
In fact, as you can see in the video at the bottom of the page, Fasanello was not moving at all when the cruiser hit him. He was waiting at the intersection to get off of a side road, and the cruiser turned to make a left.
As he recalled afterwards, speaking to the media, he immediately realized he was about to be hit because he noticed that the cruiser took a very sharp turn. Fasanello couldn’t avoid the impact even if he’d run, so he did what little else he could: he screamed at the driver to get him to pay attention to the road.
The driver in question, Officer Charles Wallace, was too distracted to stop in time. He pulled over after he hit Fasanello and admitted that it was his fault. However, he denied he was texting, saying he was just “looking” at his phone.
“I wasn't texting! I was looking at my phone!” the cop told the guy he’d just hit with his car, as if that meant he was less guilty.
Fasanello says Wallace reported the accident through the radio and another officer came on the scene. He was treated by EMTs and wasn’t injured too badly. The bike, however, was totaled.
Right now, Wallace is on unpaid leave, while the department conducts an investigation into the causes of the accident. A statement insists that he wasn’t texting but distracted by his phone.
In fact, as you can see in the video at the bottom of the page, Fasanello was not moving at all when the cruiser hit him. He was waiting at the intersection to get off of a side road, and the cruiser turned to make a left.
As he recalled afterwards, speaking to the media, he immediately realized he was about to be hit because he noticed that the cruiser took a very sharp turn. Fasanello couldn’t avoid the impact even if he’d run, so he did what little else he could: he screamed at the driver to get him to pay attention to the road.
The driver in question, Officer Charles Wallace, was too distracted to stop in time. He pulled over after he hit Fasanello and admitted that it was his fault. However, he denied he was texting, saying he was just “looking” at his phone.
“I wasn't texting! I was looking at my phone!” the cop told the guy he’d just hit with his car, as if that meant he was less guilty.
Fasanello says Wallace reported the accident through the radio and another officer came on the scene. He was treated by EMTs and wasn’t injured too badly. The bike, however, was totaled.
Right now, Wallace is on unpaid leave, while the department conducts an investigation into the causes of the accident. A statement insists that he wasn’t texting but distracted by his phone.