A trooper assigned to the Illinois State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Bureau was conducting truck inspections with portable scales on northbound IL-40, just south of US-30 in Rock Falls, at about 10:08 a.m. on October 22, the State Police said in an official release. His squad car was parked on the right shoulder with its emergency lights activated.

Source: Illinois State Police (official release)

As the trooper opened the driver's door to get out, a white 2016 Ford box truck failed to move over and yield to the emergency lights and struck the door, the agency said. Neither the trooper nor the truck driver was injured. Trucking outlet CDLLife, reporting the same State Police account on October 23, said the door was ripped off the squad car as the trooper was exiting during the roadside commercial vehicle inspections.

Source: CDLLife

The box truck driver, identified by police as Benjamin Vogel, 24, of Camanche, Iowa, was issued a citation for Improper Passing of a Stationary Emergency Vehicle Causing Property Damage to Another, the State Police said. A citation is a charge to answer in court, not a finding of guilt.

Why this matters for truckers on Illinois roads

Illinois' Move Over Law, known as Scott's Law, requires every driver to slow down and change lanes away from an emergency vehicle, an emergency worker, or any vehicle displaying emergency or hazard lights, the State Police said. A first offence carries a fine of no less than $250 and no more than $10,000, and a violation that injures someone brings revocation of the driver's licence. For the many Punjabi commercial drivers who run Illinois corridors such as I-80, I-55 and I-88, roadside inspection stops with portable scales are a routine sight — and this case is a reminder that passing one too closely can end a driving career even when nobody is hurt.