Driver slams into a patrol car. Police post the video to warn of distracted driving

It was too late to prevent a crash by the time Byron police Lt. Bryan Hunter saw the gold-colored SUV barreling toward the rear of his patrol car.

"I'm glad I had my seat belt on," Hunter told The Telegraph of the three-car crash he was involved in on Tuesday. "That's the hardest hit I think I've ever had in a car wreck."

Hunter was stopped at a red light at Riverside Drive and Spring Street in Macon when the 2012 Ford Escape slammed into the back of his patrol car at about 40 or 45 mph, he said. Equipment in the back of the patrol car rattled with the impact as it was pushed into a blue Mercury Mountaineer in front of it.

The Byron Police Department posted a video on Facebook on Friday as a warning to motorists. The post was published just days before July 1, when Georgia's new hands-free law is expected to take effect.

"Why is distracted driving bad? Watch this video," police wrote in the post. "This is a Byron officer that was rear ended by a distracted driver earlier this week. Fortunately everyone walked away."

The driver of the Ford Escape was cited for following too closely, according to an accident report from the Bibb County Sheriff's Office. There was no indication he was using a cellphone.

The driver told the responding deputy that "he did not know what happened other than he struck the vehicles," the report said. "He stated, 'I may have looked away for a second.' "

Hunter said Friday he was still sore from the wreck but recovering.

"A lot of people think distracted driving is just the phone, and it's not," he said. "It's something as simple as eating, putting on makeup, a kid in the car or a dog — something that is just keeping you from paying attention to driving."

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 4:18 PM.