ONE LUCKY FLORIDA TROOPER: TWO TIMES

Following two recent near misses after stopping to help people on Interstate 95, the Florida Highway Patrol trooper, husband, father of two and Army veteran said Monday he thinks he's figured it out. "By the grace of God, he spared me," the 52-year-old said after getting out of the hospital following the latest crash Sunday.

"There's probably someone out there I can help." On June 29, Washington was in his patrol car finishing up paperwork after a minor wreck near State Street in Jacksonville when a sport utility vehicle sideswiped his vehicle. Then it hit and killed a tow truck driver who was standing nearby.

Had the trooper's computer printer not jammed, Washington would have already been out of his car. Instead he pulled into traffic to protect 57-year-old tow truck driver Charles Sharpe's body from being crushed again.

Sharpe already had loaded up a disabled vehicle on his wrecker but stayed at the scene because a crash victim asked for help getting a fender off his wheel, Washington said Monday.

The two men had worked crashes on the interstate for years together, with the tow truck driver often joking that he "slept in his wrecker" because he would show up every time Washington did. The fatal crash left the trooper with neck pain and skyrocketing blood pressure as he tried to recover from seeing a friend die in front of him.

Then on Sunday, Washington was off-duty and driving to his second job in his FHP car when he saw a disabled car by a barrier wall near Beaver Street. Activating his emergency lights, he pulled behind it and found a motorist walking back to the car with a can of gas after having run out of fuel.

As the trooper helped the man fill up his Buick's gas tank, they heard an explosion as a Ford sedan crushed the back of Washington's patrol car and sent it careening toward them. This time, the trooper suffered a shoulder injury either from flying debris or from straining to get the Ford's elderly passengers out of the car for fear of a fire sparking in the wreckage.

The crash also totaled Washington's replacement FHP car. It was parked behind Highway Patrol headquarters on Normandy Boulevard on Monday, seven spots away from the dented car from the wreck 16 days ago. A Highway Patrol spokesman, Lt. Bill Leeper, said both accidents could have been avoided if the drivers had been following the state's move over law.

The law says that as soon as it is safe, motorists on highways of more than two lanes should leave an extra lane between traffic and emergency vehicles with activated lights or sirens. When there isn't an extra lane, motorists should slow to 20 mph below the posted speed limit.

"It's important to make sure those individuals are safe because they're out there trying to keep everybody else safe," he said of emergency workers.

In Sunday's crash, the 81-year-old driver who hit the trooper's car told authorities he didn't see the vehicle with its emergency lights on. Authorities are investigating both crashes.

In the meantime, Washington hopes to return to work before the week's end. While motorists have hit his car before, the trooper said the two recent wrecks reminded him to protect himself the way he believes a higher power has done twice lately. "I figured," the trooper said, "it was grace that saved me."