Roadside Accidents Kill a Cop a Month

Feb. 9, 2006 — -- In 2003, Cincinnati police Officer Jerry Enneking's car was rear-ended at the scene of an accident. When he got out to investigate, he got hit again.

"The car hit my front fender and then me," Enneking said.

Last fall, Enneking was hit a third time when someone plowed into the back of his car while he was sitting in it. Enneking survived, but many don't.

Roadside crashes killed 120 police officers from 1995 to 2004, an average of one officer every month, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Lara Feinberg, the wife of a North Carolina trooper, founded Families for Roadside Safety after her husband, Hugh, lost his best friend and another colleague in separate roadside accidents.

Feinberg lobbies for "Move Over" laws that require drivers to move over or slow down when they approach police officers on the side of the road. She says 38 states have adopted the laws.

"It gives some space for them to work without being hit," Feinberg said.