State Trooper hit during traffic stop in Bethlehem
— Photo from New York State Police
The trooper, who was in this car at the time of the crash, was taken to Albany Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
BETHLEHEM — After a State Trooper had pulled over a car on Interstate 87 in Bethlehem on Friday morning, another car, driving north on the Thruway, hit the trooper’s patrol car.
The trooper, Kristen R. Sullivan, who was in her patrol car at the time of the crash, was taken to Albany Medical Center for treatment of back and neck pain, according to a release from the State Police.
The driver of the car that was stopped by the trooper, and the driver of the 2017 Subaru Forester that struck both cars reported no injuries, police said.
Preliminary investigation, police said, showed that the driver of the Subaru, who was traveling north in the left lane, swerved onto the left shoulder to avoid a tractor trailer changing lanes.
The Subaru driver then over-corrected, lost control, and struck the trooper’s car on the driver’s side and also the car from the initial traffic stop.
The tractor trailer involved was located and stopped a short time later, police said. The investigation is ongoing.
At the time of the crash, police said, Trooper Sullivan was conducting the traffic stop as part of the State Police’s participation in Speed Awareness Week, a high-visibility enforcement effort running from Aug. 4 through 10.
The campaign, supported by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, is paired with the statewide public awareness initiative, “Speeding Is No Game. You Don’t Get a Second Life,” which highlights the dangers and tragic consequences of unsafe speed.
