A Maine State Police Cruiser was Hit in Traffic, Trooper Injured

A Maine State Police Trooper was injured when his cruiser was hit in a construction zone.

Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss says just after 6:30 Wednesday morning State Troopers were assisting a construction contractor, SPS New England, as they were attempting to set up a lane closure on the Piscataqua River Bridge. Construction workers and the Troopers were in the left northbound lane of the bridge, on Interstate 95 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, just before the Maine state line, where the closure was going to be set up when the crash happened.

Trooper Thomas Welch, 43, was in his fully marked cruiser and had his emergency lights activated when he was rear-ended by 31-year-old Sean McInnis of Merrimack, New Hampshire. McInnis was driving a silver Ford F-150 pickup with two others in the vehicle. They were not injured, but Trooper Welch was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

New Hampshire State Police are now investigating the crash. There's no word about whether any charges will be filed.

Maine State Police and the Bureau of Highway Safety remind drivers to put safety first. Moss says one of the most dangerous parts of an emergency responder's job is stepping out on the side of the road, whether it's for a traffic stop, to assist a motorist, or to investigate a crash.

To protect those who protect us, every state has Move Over Laws, requiring drivers to move over and slow down when approaching stopped vehicles with the flashing lights activated.