Road cop 'took deep breath' as lorry toppled on to 'favourite' patrol car on A1 during high winds

Police Scotland have also shared new dash-cam footage of the moment the lorry falls on to the patrol car.

A road policing officer had a brush with death as a lorry toppled on to his "favourite" patrol car during Tuesday's high winds.

Sergeant John Easton, of Police Scotland’s Road Policing Unit, said the incident on the A1 near East Linton could have been "much worse" but fortunately he walked away unscathed.

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The A1 was closed on Tuesday after two lorries blew over in high winds on the same part of the road. Sergeant Easton was called to a report of the first lorry blowing over in the gusts - then the second lorry toppled on to his car.

New police dash-cam footage shows the moment before the toppling lorry lands on the patrol car. Pic: Police Scotland.New police dash-cam footage shows the moment before the toppling lorry lands on the patrol car. Pic: Police Scotland.
New police dash-cam footage shows the moment before the toppling lorry lands on the patrol car. Pic: Police Scotland.

Dash-cam footage from the police patrol car has also been shared by Police Scotland online.

Sergeant Easton said: “When I got to the scene, I jumped out the car, went across to check on the driver from the first lorry to make sure that he was ok, and he was already in another vehicle with one of our support drivers, so I said to them they needed to get off the bridge as it was too dangerous.

“As I struggled trying to get back to my car I had to hold onto the lorry to try and pull myself around. I had to get back into my car to then contact our control room and Traffic Scotland to close the bridge and the road.

“That’s at which point as I was speaking on the radio that the lorry started to fall over onto my car. As it happens, my favourite car in the RPU fleet.

“I took a deep breath, got out, and checked that the driver of the lorry that had hit my vehicle was ok before radioing for more assistance. Colleagues quickly arrived to help at the scene and we closed the road at the bridge.

“It could have been much worse but fortunately I walked away unscathed. I certainly won’t forget why it’s called the ‘Windy Bridge’ now.”