(Radio Iowa) — Sioux City Police officer was injured Wednesday morning as he was assisting at the scene of a traffic accident on the Highway 20 bypass. Police Lieutenant Chris Groves says the officer was seated in his S-U-V around 6:45am helping to direct traffic when the S-U-V was struck by a passing car.

He says the officer saw the car in the rear view mirror and observed it starting to fishtail as it tried to slow to avoid the patrol car, but ended up hitting it in the rear. Groves says the side airbags deployed and the officer sustained minor injuries. He says it’s not known yet why the driver didn’t see the patrol vehicle and its flashing lights.

“I don’t know what the person was doing, but the reminder is: make sure you are paying attention to the road, make sure you pay attention to what is ahead of you. There is a law that requires drivers to move over,” Groves says. The driver of the car will be cited and was taken to the hospital by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries.