When it comes to traffic laws, we expect that police, more so than anyone else, would follow the law and stop at stop signs. We believe this because if we did not stop at a stop sign and a police officer saw us, he or she would pull us over and issue a ticket. Of course, if officers are responding to an emergency, it makes sense for them to ignore traffic laws and enter an intersection without stopping, but they would give other motorists fair warning with either a siren, lights or both.
Unfortunately, Pennsylvania state troopers were not responding to any kind of emergency when they rolled through a stop sign earlier this month in Erie County. What is worse is that they apparently gave motorists no indication that they would not be stopping, which seems to have caused a fatal car accident.
The woman who was killed was a 57-year-old from Edinboro. Though the details of the crash still remain somewhat unclear, it seems that the woman hit the Pennsylvania State Police patrol car at an intersection. The negligent party, however, may have been the state trooper that was driving, as he was the one that failed to stop at the stop sign.
Sadly, the woman did not even make it to the hospital before she was pronounced dead. What is worse is that this fatal car accident likely could have been prevented if the state trooper had just followed the traffic laws that he had been hired to enforce.
Source: The Patriot-News, “Pa. woman killed as State Trooper runs stop sign in patrol vehicle,” John Luciew, July 7, 2014