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Published on Tuesday, August 31, 2004
in the Miami Herald

Broward trooper featured in safe driving campaign hit by SUV

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A Broward County trooper was hospitalized after an SUV sideswiped his patrol car, less than two months after he was featured last month in a traffic safety campaign to prevent such accidents.

Trooper John Baker, 38, was pulled over Monday on Interstate 95, writing a report in his patrol car with the emergency lights on, when a Ford sport utility vehicle veered off the road and sideswiped the patrol car, said FHP Lt. Roger J. Reyes.

The SUV swerved back into traffic and hit the passenger side of a Dodge Neon, then stopped on the shoulder, FHP said. Three passengers in the Dodge suffered minor injuries.

Baker suffered a bump on his head, sore muscles and injuries from flying glass. He was released from North Broward Medical Center and planned to return to work Tuesday.

"It's an eye-opener, because if I had gotten out of the car at the time this guy veered off the road, I would've been most likely severely injured or killed," Baker said.

The SUV driver, Stanley Midi, 23, of Lauderdale Lakes, was cited for failing to maintain a lane and for failing to obey the Move Over law, Reyes said.

Baker and his 9-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, appeared at a July 1 news conference for the second anniversary of the state's "Move Over" law. The law requires drivers to move into other lanes or slow down when approaching emergency vehicles that are stopped on highways.

From 1996 to 2000, Florida drivers crashed into law enforcement vehicles stopped on roadways 1,793 times, causing five deaths and 419 injuries, according to the highway