A Utah Highway Patrol trooper was nearly struck by a truck driver who swerved to avoid colliding with a car that had slowed in front.
UHP shared the trooper's body camera video on social media, showing how close he came to being part of the incident he was investigating on State Route 40 on May 27.
The trooper, Alex Agin, talked with FOX 13 News on Tuesday.
"I heard the brakes lock up, the screeching of the tires, and there's a big white truck headed right toward me," he recalled.
In the video, a white pickup truck tailing too close to the car in front is seen quickly veering toward the trooper before driving on in the opposite lane of traffic.
WATCH: Full video below
"Holy moly!" Agin is heard yelling on the video.
The trooper then walked up to where the pickup had pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, and found the female driver was just as startled.
The driver said she was OK and that she was glad the trooper was OK.
"I need to sit here for a second," the driver said. "I just need a second to recover."
Agin said being a highway patrol trooper was his calling.
"I needed to serve in one capacity or another," he said.
But he recognizes that it can be dangerous.
"Our heads are on a swivel at all times because we never know what's going to happen," Agin said.
The Utah Highway Patrol reiterated in the social media post that when drivers ignore emergency lights and fail to slow down, they put lives at risk.
"Slow down, move over, get to and from safely to your destination, let myself and my partners get home safe at the end of our shifts," Agin said. "The first thing you do when you see emergency lights, take that foot off the gas and assess what's going to come."
DRIVEN TO CHANGE
