Overland Park police officer narrowly avoids black ice crash

There was a close call Thursday morning on black ice as an Overland Park police officer barely escaped serious injuries following an early morning crash on U.S. 69 Highway.

The road was shut down for hours during the clean-up following the foreboding series of winter weather wrecks.

Slick ice was already an issue in some spots, with road crews on both sides of the state line telling FOX4 that it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. Especially if drivers don’t adjust their driving habits heading into what’s likely to be an icy streak, even after heavy salting of the roads.

Just after 6 a.m. Thursday, an Overland Park police officer was responding to a car that had slid off 69 Highway south of Blue Valley Parkway.

Captured on body camera footage, the officer turns around to see a vehicle sliding toward a parked police SUV.

“People are on the roadway, and they figure, ‘Hey, the roads are clear. It may be wet, but the roads are clear.’ And that’s not in the case where it’s considered black ice,” Overland Park Public Information Officer John Lacy said.

“Because when the watch commander and sergeant told me about it I’m like ‘OK, wait a minute. This is like a chain reaction? And he said, ‘Yeah,'” Lacy said.

In the early morning situation, the sliding vehicle hit an assisting police cruiser, ramming it forward, hitting a second cruiser and narrowly missing the officer.