Published on Monday, June 12, 2006
in the Miami Herald

FHP car hit near crash

The car of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who had pulled over at a crash site on Florida's Turnpike was rear-ended Sunday afternoon, prompting officials to remind drivers to move over for emergency vehicles.

Trooper Lazaro Castano was working a crash on the shoulder of the eastbound lanes of the Turnpike Extension in North Miami-Dade when a car came around the curve and hit his car, said FHP Lt. Roger Reyes.

Castano was not injured. The accident marked the second time in three days that the car of a trooper who had pulled over for a crash was struck.

On Friday afternoon, Trooper Douglas Maliszewski was pulled over at a crash scene on the southbound entrance ramp to Interstate 595 from the turnpike when a Dodge Durango slammed into the driver's side of his car, Reyes said.

Maliszewski was not in the car at the time.

The state's 2002 ''Move Over'' law requires drivers to shift over one lane when emergency lights are flashing from the roadside, or to slow down to 20 mph below the speed limit if they can't move over.

''We just remind everyone to think of your fellow citizens and your troopers out there working for you trying to keep the road safe,'' Reyes said. ``Be aware of your surroundings. When it rains have extra care and [do] not have any distractions.''