There have been several times this winter season that law enforcement officials were nearly hit when they were on the side of the road after responding to an incident.

Greene County Sheriff Jack Williams describes some situations where he and his deputies have experienced nearly being hit when on the side of the road.

“We’ve had where people come up on the accident just in the couple of snows that we’ve had, go to hit their brakes, slide, spin-out and go into the ditch. Thankfully they’ve always gone into the opposite ditch instead of the side where we are working on. So we’ve had a few close calls already this year. I’ve had several in my career in law enforcement where (I’ve) nearly been hit, just because they wait for that last second to slow down.”      

Williams reminds motorists that when they are on the scene of a vehicle wreck, or helping a stranded motorists, and they have emergency lights flashing, motorists have rules they must obey.

“You have to slow down and move over if you have the ability to do so and to change lanes. If you can’t that’s just where the slow down to where you can stop if one of us happens to be out there, or even an ambulance crew, firemen, or one of the victims in an accident happens to step out into traffic, that you can stop.”

He hopes passing motorists can help them out so that a situation they are dealing with doesn’t become more severe.