Life flashing before my eyes: Utah Highway Patrol trooper narrowly escapes his second close call in five months – ABC 4

MURRAY (ABC4 News) The most thankful person in Utah this Thanksgiving may be a Utah Highway Patrol trooper who has narrowly escaped death twice in the last five months.

Both timesTrooper Riley Rugg was outside of his patrol cruiserinvestigating an accident when it was struck by an oncoming vehicle.

RELATED: Slow down and move over for troopers, its the law

On Monday, Trooper Ruggs dashboard camera shows him assisting a driver who had spun out on I-15 near 7100 South in Midvale when he notices a speeding car start to slide.

He runs to leap over a retaining wall just before the car slams into the back of his UHP vehicle pushing it toward him.

His body camera also captured the terrifying moment from his perspective.What else was Trooper Rugg seeing?

A little bit maybe of my life flashing before my eyes, he told reporters.

It started veering towards my vehicle and kind of last minute I was able to run around the front of the persons car and jump over the wall before they impacted my carI was a little worried that he was going to maybe squeeze between my car and the wall and maybe hit me so I just tried to get over the wall so the concrete barrier could protect meI was lucky to get over the barrier in time and avoid getting hit by the car.

Holiday weeks seem to be a treacherous time for the 22-year-old husband and former Marine whos only been on the job for 14 months.

I had a pretty close call 4th of July Weekend this year, he said.

On July 7th he was working an accident along I-80 in Parleys Canyon and had just walked away from his patrol vehicle when a speeding Ford F-350 pickup rolled over the top of it.

That day the driver of the truck was ejected and flown to the hospital but Trooper Rugg and the driver in the original crash escaped unscathed.

Its a miracle that we werent hurt, he said afterward. Just a mile an hour or two difference in speed could have made the situation a lot different better or worse so Im just grateful how it happened that we werent injured.

Despite the two close calls, Trooper Rugg doesnt have any second thoughts about his career choice. Hell be out patrolling the highways this Thanksgiving weekend.

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Life flashing before my eyes: Utah Highway Patrol trooper narrowly escapes his second close call in five months - ABC 4