Deputies Injured in Truck Accident on Highway 315 in Panola County, TX
Panola County, TX -- March 11, 2023, two deputies were injured after an accident where a truck hit their cruiser on Highway 315.
Investigators said that the incident happened at around 2:13 p.m. along TX-315 in the area of FM 1971. Authorities said the accident happened as sheriff's deputies were responding to a call about a loose cow. It appears the officers were waiting to make a u-turn when a truck crashed into the back of their vehicle.
Both officers were injured, with one apparently being later flown to a Tyler hospital. The truck driver received a citation. Additional details are unavailable at this time.
It's already bad enough our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line responding to accident scenes, diverting traffic around construction projects, and otherwise being out on highways where drunk and inattentive drivers often crash into them.
But here, it doesn't sound like the deputies were doing anything that any ordinary vehicle wouldn't have been doing. Whether it's for a left turn, a u-turn, or just plain old traffic, a vehicle slowing or stopping on the highway—in daylight hours, no less—is not at all unexpected. So why exactly was this driver unable to slow down in time? Could this be an unusual situation they couldn't easily avoid, or will this prove to be yet another reckless driver who put emergency personnel in the hospital?
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