Highway Patrol Warns Drivers To Pay Attention After Car Slams In To Patrol Car

With roads still sleet-covered and icy in spots, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol is warning drivers to slow down and pay attention.

This comes after a trooper's patrol car was hit along I-35 on Thursday. That trooper was not in his car when it was hit, but his unit is now totaled, and OHP says it could have been much worse. Freezing rain early Thursday created a thin layer of ice on several roads and highways across the state.

Around 4:30, a trooper was working a minor crash on I-35 in Moore, when the highway patrol says another driver lost control and slid into the back of the trooper's unit. Another car then slid and hit that one. Lt. Mark Southall says they've responded to a lot of crashes statewide, especially one-vehicle crashes, where drivers simply lost control and slid on black ice.

Southall says that's why it’s even more important right now to take it slow today and move over.

"Any time you come upon a scene with red and blue flashing lights or anybody on the side of the road, they're in a very susceptible position,” said Lt. Southall. “A very precarious position that they don't want to be in. So travel with safety around those units that are out there."

OHP says it responded to 170 crashes statewide yesterday.

25 of those involved injuries.