For the second time this year, an RCMP officer was nearly hit by a vehicle travelling at highway speeds while conducting a traffic stop.

Around 10am last Thursday, an officer pulled over a vehicle on Highway 16, west of Lashburn. The emergency lights were activated and the RCMP officer was speaking with the driver.

While this was going on, an SUV sideswiped the parked police vehicle at highway speed and narrowly missed the officer. The officer was hit by debris, but not seriously injured. The man operating the SUV was issued a ticket for driving without due care and attention.

RCMP have posted video of the incident on YouTube.

“Twice this year we have almost had one of our officers hit while conducting a traffic stop – and this doesn’t include the many scary close calls we don’t report publicly,” says Supt. Grant St. Germaine, officer in charge of Saskatchewan RCMP Traffic Services. “Watching the video is terrifying. Our officers are out there doing their job to keep the public safe – we need drivers to do their part to keep our officers safe.”

This follows a similar incident on February 28th on the Trans-Canada highway near Grand Coulee when a semi hit a police cruiser.

The RCMP adds there are many other scary close calls that are not publicly released. It wants drivers to slow down to 60 km/hr when passing emergency vehicles with activated lights.