Dash Cam Captures Distracted Driver Crash In Wisconsin

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's not unusual for an officer to be on the scene of a distracted driver crash. But the way in which a Hudson police officer ended up on one that was unusual. This dash cam video from his cruiser last Thursday shows a car speeding toward him head on.

After the crash, his car looked quite a bit different.

It's the type of scene Officer Andrew Wedell has responded to countless times. But the angle he saw it from that day was a first.

"Now that we're on day four, it has finally sunk in, what could have been the outcome," Wedell said.

It was a typical day on patrol driving down Coulee Road in Hudson.

"Just kind of watching things, just going about 30 miles per hour," Wedell said.

That's when a car goes outside the lines.

"A tenth of a second later that's when I knew everything was going to go totally wrong," he said.

His first instinct was to veer a hard right off road, but he saw another problem: someone walking nearby.

"I couldn't go up on the sidewalk because I would have run the pedestrian over, had to do my best I could to minimize the crash," said Wedell.

So he slightly turned the car, so the empty back seat would take the brunt. As you can see in the video, it did.

The officer's boss, Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen, happened to be close by.

"I'm the first one on scene and you could just see the devastation of the squad car and then the other vehicle that hit him," said Jensen.

The officer and the other driver had minor injuries despite the major impact.

"According to the investigation, the driver admitted he was adjusting his radio dial, wasn't paying attention to the road, crossed the center line and you've seen the video," Jensen said.

And so has Wedell, over and over.

"Looking at the car, coming right at you, it could have been the end at that point," he said.

Wedell has a warning for other drivers.

"Pay attention when you drive because I think that could have averted this," he said.

Hudson police want you to know distracted driving isn't just about a device, fiddling with the radio, eating, holding coffee, or putting on makeup -- all of it, is dangerous.