GRANTSBURG – An Illinois State Police trooper was not injured after his squad car was hit by a passing semi on eastbound I-24 in Johnson County Thursday afternoon.

According to ISP, the trooper was parked with their emergency lights on providing traffic control from a semi fire on the right shoulder on eastbound I-24 near milepost 21 in Grantsburg around 3:50 p.m.

Approaching traffic failed to reduce their speed in time and a separate three-vehicle crash occurred near the trooper. Immediately after, another truck-tractor semi-trailer swerved near the shoulder to avoid the crash that had just occurred, but instead sideswiped the driver’s side of the parked squad car. The squad car’s driver side was scratched, and the mirror was broken. The trooper was inside of the squad car at the time of the crash, and fortunately, was uninjured. The driver of the truck-tractor semi-trailer from Chicago was cited for the Move Over Law – Failure to Yield to Stationary Emergency Vehicle.

This was the second Move Over Law, also known as Scott’s Law in Illinois, crash involving an ISP squad car in less than 24 hours. Another trooper’s squad car was struck earlier the same day while assisting with a shooting investigation in Chicago. That driver was cited for Driving Under the Influence and other violations.

A person who violates the Move Over Law faces a fine of no less than $250 and no more than $10,000 for a first offense. If the violation results in injury to another person, the violator’s driver’s license will be suspended for a mandatory period of anywhere between six months and two years.