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Trucker Cited After Rig Clips Stopped Patrol Car

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TBO.com

Published: July 31, 2008

TAMPA - A trucker whose tractor-trailer clipped the door of a sheriff's patrol car has been cited for violating the state's Move Over Law, which requires vehicles to slow down or move to another lane when emergency vehicles are on the side of the road, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

Sgt. Scott Wellinger was "inches from disaster" about 11 p.m. Monday when he made a traffic stop on southbound Interstate 75 at State Road 674, according to a news release.

The sergeant was sitting in his 2006 Chevrolet Impala in the emergency lane with the emergency lights and strobes activated when a tractor-trailer failed to slow down and move over and drifted off the road. The truck's rear wheels clipped Wellinger's slightly ajar driver's door. The door was crumpled and peeled back into the front wheel well, the news release states.

The truck, which was traveling about 60 mph, narrowly missed a full impact of the Impala, the release states.

Wellinger was not injured.

The truck driver, Jose Serrano, told deputies he tried to move over but couldn't because of traffic. The investigation determined that Serrano had time to slow down and move, the news release states.

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