A Baton Rouge police officer has been suspended for 30-days concerning a car accident he caused while on duty, and for then leaving the scene without stopping his vehicle. The officer apparently turned on his emergency lights and then struck a vehicle while attempting to pass it.

Allegedly, the officer only turned on the emergency lights because he was impatient with the traffic. Since a witness to the incident wrote down the license number of the police vehicle, it was then discovered that the incident was caught on the dashboard camera (such cameras being activated when the emergency lights are turned on).

Though we would hope that police officers would abide by the traffic laws (except when in pursuit or in route to an emergency situation), this unfortunately is not always the case. It should be noted that this was not the first time the officer used poor judgment while in a hurry. The same officer a few months back while off-duty attempted to pass a school bus that was dropping off children, and the officer struck the extended stop sign on the bus. The reason he attempted to pass the bus was because he was in a hurry to change the oil in his cousin's girlfriend's car.

Fortunately, no one was injured in either of the above incidents, but the officer nevertheless did place others at risk by his behavior. For one, the recent car accident could have been more severe. And for two, while passing the school bus, it's foreseeable that school children could have at the same time been crossing the road.

If anyone would have been injured or killed as a result of either of these incidents, the officer would have been listening to a prosecuting attorney read to him a criminal indictment - rather than be receiving a suspension.

Source: The Republic, "Baton Rouge police officer suspended for 30 days for hitting car with police unit, driving off," Feb. 15, 2012