A crash investigation on Highway 26 nearly turned into a disaster when a second impaired driver steered around cones and emergency lights and pushed into a closed crash scene, narrowly missing a Beaverton police officer who was working an earlier collision. The driver was arrested on suspicion of DUII, and the first crash had already sent a motorcyclist to the hospital, according to officials. Police and Oregon Department of Transportation crews had shut down part of the freeway to create a safety buffer for first responders, and the department used the near miss to repeat its warning to drivers to slow down, move over and follow traffic control.
Video Shows Second Impaired Driver Thread Into Closed Scene
The department shared the video Monday, showing a vehicle weaving past traffic-control points and rolling straight into the shut-down scene while officers and ODOT workers were on foot nearby, a moment police described as a “close call.” In the post, investigators say they determined alcohol and marijuana were contributing factors, that the second driver was arrested for DUII, and that the original crash had sent a motorcycle rider to the hospital. “Thankfully no one was injured in this incident,” the post notes, before closing with a familiar reminder to “slow down, move over, follow traffic control and never drive impaired,” according to the Beaverton Police Department.
Why Moving Over Is Not Optional…