Dramatic police dashcam footage captured in Virginia reveals how one officer narrowly avoided death during a traffic stop Monday.
The video, released by the Fairfax County Police Department on Tuesday, shows the officer leaning into the passenger side window of a vehicle during a routine traffic stop on southbound Fairfax County Parkway around 11:38 a.m.
A black BMW can be seen skidding across a highway divider from the other side of the road.
The shocked officer saw it and moved to get away as the BMW smashed into the vehicle he had stopped and then into his patrol car.
The officer was inches away from being crushed at the point of impact.
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The BMW was traveling 120 miles an hour, according to WUSA-TV.
Slowed-down footage shows just how close the officer came to serious injury or death.
🚨#UPDATE: Here is police dash cam footage slowed down 1.5x showing how dangerously close the driver was from nearly killing the officer luckily he survived and only got a few scratches pic.twitter.com/LQU9xbIRFR
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) May 2, 2023
The adult driver of the pulled-over car was taken to the hospital with minor injuries suffered in the crash and was released, police said.
The 17-year-old driver of the speeding vehicle and two passengers also sustained minor injuries.
The teen is facing a criminal charge of reckless driving in connection to the crash.
“The Fairfax County Police Department is relieved that this crash did not result in a tragedy,” the department said in its news release. “This is an important reminder that life can change in an instant.”
At least one Twitter user likened the events seen in the footage to a divine miracle.
Stuff like this is why I believe in God.
— Wisconsin Neanderthal 🧀 (@wiz_political) May 2, 2023
Another Twitter user said the officer would have been killed if he hadn’t swiftly moved to the perfect position to avoid the oncoming car.
That was a miracle. He was literally in the only spot he could have been in without getting killed
— ΛηǤ∈ㄥƦ∈§※§┰§ (@HonestApeNYC) May 2, 2023
One Fairfax County law enforcement official pointed to the crash as evidence of the dangers that inexperienced motorists pose to the community.
“We have to call to attention the young drivers, the teen drivers who are responsible for an incredible number of excessive-speed-related crashes,” Fairfax County Police Deputy Chief Bob Blakely told WUSA.
