SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - One week after being hit by a Jeep on the side of I-15, a UHP Trooper tells his story of survival and the new for safety on Utah's roads.
It was a stormy Christmas Eve and Trooper B.J. Shelby left his normal assignment at the State Capitol to work a few accidents on I-15.
Trooper Shelby stopped at an accident on the southbound lanes of 7600 South on I-15, he was setting up flares to protect the cars involved in the accident when a Jeep hit Trooper Shelby.
Shelby said, "I tried to get away from the car, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to get away. I jumped up to keep myself from going under."
Trooper Shelby was on the side of the road in serious pain and had to drag himself to his truck. Once safe inside his vehicle he called for help and waited, grateful to be alive.
Trooper Shelby had a concussion, strained muscles and his knee is in very rough shape. To top it all off, the Trooper missed Christmas with his three children.
It will probably be months before Trooper Shelby is back to work, but he is the first to say he is lucky to be alive. He also admits there is a bigger problem, UHP troopers need to be better protected on the roads.
Major Michael Rapich told ABC 4 News, "Troopers are out there trying to make sure that people are safe, out there trying to help when people have got themselves into a situation they didn't think they would get into."
UHP needs all of our help to keep our roads safe; for each other and troopers
The biggest for UHP Troopers isn't always bullets, the bigger day-to-day problems come in the form of cars.
Trooper Shelby put it simply, "we are out there dealing with 4,000 pound bullets, it is one of our worst nightmares."
