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ST. JOSEPH, MO. -
St. Joseph Police said two of their officers are lucky to be alive after they were rear-ended by a man accused of texting while driving.
What remains of one of the cars involved in the Tuesday morning crash on I-29, in the jargon of texting, is not LOL (laugh out loud), but OMG (oh my God).
Police were working an accident around 2:30 a.m. when they became an accident themselves.
Officers said a man texting while driving didn't notice traffic had been narrowed to one lane and simply slammed into a parked police car.
"There's no indication there was even any braking before he struck the rear squad car and drove it into the other. We feel real fortunate the officers came out of it as well as they did," said St. Joseph Police Captain Kevin Castle.
Even the police car that took the secondary hit is a total loss. But, the first car is really scary to look at.
"When you take a look at the accident, take a look at the damage done to the vehicle. Very fortunate. We did have one officer that the dash cam did show stepped right back into the car just immediately prior to the impact. If she'd been out in the roadway, there's no doubt she would've been seriously injured or killed," said Capt. Castle.
The officer in the car had to be cut out to pull him out safely. It turns out Missouri passed a ban on texting just last week but it only applies to drivers under 21. Gary Howard is 25.
Police charged Howard with DWI, careless driving and failure to yield. It's only luck he isn't charged with manslaughter.
Investigators said driving while texting has become a dangerous trend.
"It's not uncommon. We've just been doing some public safety announcements here in the last week talking about texting and driving and unfortunately it doesn't always sink in," said Castle.
The Missouri law on texting goes into effect in August. Kansas only bans texting or talking on cell phone for those with a driver's permit.
What remains of one of the cars involved in the Tuesday morning crash on I-29, in the jargon of texting, is not LOL (laugh out loud), but OMG (oh my God).
Police were working an accident around 2:30 a.m. when they became an accident themselves.
Officers said a man texting while driving didn't notice traffic had been narrowed to one lane and simply slammed into a parked police car.
"There's no indication there was even any braking before he struck the rear squad car and drove it into the other. We feel real fortunate the officers came out of it as well as they did," said St. Joseph Police Captain Kevin Castle.
Even the police car that took the secondary hit is a total loss. But, the first car is really scary to look at.
"When you take a look at the accident, take a look at the damage done to the vehicle. Very fortunate. We did have one officer that the dash cam did show stepped right back into the car just immediately prior to the impact. If she'd been out in the roadway, there's no doubt she would've been seriously injured or killed," said Capt. Castle.
The officer in the car had to be cut out to pull him out safely. It turns out Missouri passed a ban on texting just last week but it only applies to drivers under 21. Gary Howard is 25.
Police charged Howard with DWI, careless driving and failure to yield. It's only luck he isn't charged with manslaughter.
Investigators said driving while texting has become a dangerous trend.
"It's not uncommon. We've just been doing some public safety announcements here in the last week talking about texting and driving and unfortunately it doesn't always sink in," said Castle.
The Missouri law on texting goes into effect in August. Kansas only bans texting or talking on cell phone for those with a driver's permit.
