Dashcam Catches Wild Crash on Side of I-95 in Fairfield

Connecticut state police dashboard camera footage captured a wild crash Friday morning where a car plowed into another vehicle that pulled over following a previous crash on Interstate 95 south in Fairfield, narrowly missing two people standing alongside the highway.

The driver, Yoni Rojas, 21, of Bridgeport, was arrested and is facing charges of reckless endangerment, reckless driving, misuse of plates, failure to meet minimum insurance coverage and failure to maintain a lane, according to state troopers. 

State police shared the dashcam video on social media, reminding drivers to move over if emergency vehicles are parked on the side of the road.

A state trooper was parked behind two vehicles on I-95 south in Fairfield near exit 19 after a two-car crash at about 1 a.m. on Friday.

As another state trooper was arriving at the crash site, he saw a Nissan Maxima speeding in front of him in the left lane, veering onto the right shoulder and "violently striking one of the vehicles involved in the original two-vehicle accident," state police said.

The footage from the dashboard camera of the first cruiser on scene shows a car appear to come out of nowhere at a high rate of speed, coming within inches of hitting two people standing behind a vehicle on the highway. They jumped back in what state police called a "hair-raising" moment to avoid being hit right as the barreling car takes out the vehicle they were standing next to and pushes it out of the camera's view.

The driver of the speeding vehicle was identified as Rojas. State police arrested him and held him in custody in lieu of a $2,500 cash/surety bond. He was scheduled to appear in Bridgeport superior court on Nov. 27 at 9 a.m.

State law requires drivers to move over a lane if possible from emergency vehicles parked on the shoulder. While state police said the incident is not a "Move Over Law" violation, it "stresses the dangers of being stopped on the highway, even if you are in the shoulder." They also said that it shows "one of the many reasons motorists are required to move over when approaching stopped emergency vehicles."

State Police Trooper Kelly Grant said that she hopes the video is "an eyeopening experience for everybody."

"This is why we talk about all the time why we talk about move over slow down there's the move over law - this is not necessarily a move over law incident," Grant said. "However part of the move over law is to slow down when you're approaching emergency vehicles on the shoulder."

Neither the two people nearly hit nor the state trooper at the scene from the original crash were injured, but Grant said the crash could have easily killed the people standing on the shoulder of the highway if they had been hit.

""That painted line is not a barrier, it's a painted line. People can drive over that painted line and strike you," she said.

Rojas did sustain minor injuries.

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