Dash Cam Video Captures MWC Crash Caused By Distracted Driver

A Midwest City police officer's near death experience is caught on camera.

The dash cam video inside Midwest City Police Sergeant Brad Rummell patrol car first captured what appeared to be a routine traffic stop. Moments after, Sgt. Rummell said that everything changed.

As the officer walks back to the patrol car, he notices a distracted driver barreling toward him.

"We are always in harm's way [during traffic stops], and when something like this happens, it just makes us count our blessings that we don't have an officer that is dead or seriously injured," Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes said.

Chief Clabes is proud of the quick thinking of his officer. Sgt. Rummell narrowly jumped to safety before the car crashes into him and the driver, who had been stopped for a traffic violation.

The driver was said to be traveling in the same lane as the traffic stop, but because she was on her cell phone, she didn't see the police car until it was too late.

"We feel like God's hand was on Sergeant Brad Rummell," Clabes called it a miracle no one was seriously injured.

The cars involved were totaled in the collision. The distracted driver and the person who had been pulled over both suffered minor injuries.

"Most of the accidents we investigate are because people are either on their cell phone, or they are texting and not paying attention, and your life can be lost in just a split second," Clabes said.

Chief Clabes hopes seeing this instance of inattentive driving will somehow prevent another one down the road.

He is calling on all drivers to put down the phone when driving a vehicle. If not, and distracted driving presents a danger, they could be ticketed like the offender in this case.

The distracted driver was ticketed for inattentive driving and faces $295 in fines.