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'I'm happy to go home': Deputy escapes close call unscathed

Posted at 6:11 PM, Dec 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-15 19:11:06-05

After Jefferson County Sheriff's deputy had a close call with a driver who jumped a median on I-94, he's asking drivers to take it slow during bad weather.

The deputy, Peter Betanski narrowly escaped injury when the SUV drove right by him while he was responding to another separate incident.

"I'm just glad I'm not a statistic on a report somewhere," Betanski said. "I look to my right and I see a set of headlights coming right at us."

The SUV was traveling in the eastbound lanes. Betanski had to make a split second decision.

"It's one of those things that was beyond my control," he said.

He ended up just staying in the same spot.

"It didn't collide with us, it passed my location by about 10 feet," Betanski said.

The sheriff's office responded to multiple crashes that night after a dusting of snow.

"What I want people to learn from this is slow down when the weather is bad," he said. "They think they're ok, I would rather deal with six inches of snow than the light dusting that we had other night. Just because the speed limit is 70 mph doesn't mean out should be doing 70 mph.”

Betanski is just grateful to still be here.

"I'm happy to go home, to see my wife my kids and got up and do it all over the next day," he said.

Fortunately for the other people involved there were no serious injuries.