A night of roadside crash cleanup on Cape Cod's Route 6 turned into a second collision Tuesday when a driver authorities say was impaired by drugs slammed into two Massachusetts State Police cruisers near Exit 68 in West Barnstable, pushing one into the other before fleeing the scene. No one was hurt, but one cruiser was damaged badly enough that it had to be towed away.
State police say the crash happened around 7 p.m. on Route 6 East at Exit 68 in Barnstable, according to NBC Boston. A trooper had left the first cruiser unoccupied while responding to an earlier crash on the left side of the highway, and a second trooper had stopped behind it to assist, per the same report. That second cruiser was struck from behind, the impact shoving it into the first and leaving it with heavy rear-end, passenger-side damage. The incident unfolded along a stretch of highway where troopers were already investigating a prior crash on the left side of the roadway, according to a Cape Wide News Facebook post.
The vehicle that struck the cruisers didn't stick around — it was later located several miles away, per the report. Troopers took 63-year-old Christopher Whitelaw of Truro into custody following the crash. He now faces charges of operating under the influence of drugs, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of property damage, and a marked lanes violation, the station notes. The damaged cruiser was towed from the scene, and the crash remains under investigation.
What the Move Over Law Requires of Drivers
Whitelaw's marked lanes charge comes alongside Massachusetts' Move Over Law, codified under M.G.L. Chapter 89, Section 7C, which requires drivers to slow down or change lanes when passing stationary emergency vehicles with flashing lights. The law was updated in January 2026 and now carries fines of up to $500 for violations, according to CMSC Driving School. First enacted in Massachusetts back in 2009, the statute exists specifically to protect troopers and other first responders working exposed roadside details.
The OUI drugs charge Whitelaw faces falls under M.G.L. c. 90 § 24, which treats drug impairment with the same statutory weight as alcohol-related offenses. A first-offense misdemeanor conviction can carry up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, fines ranging from $500 to $5,000, and a license suspension, according to Aprodu Law.
A Familiar Risk for Troopers Working the Shoulder
This is far from an isolated incident for Massachusetts State Police. In August, troopers arrested a tractor-trailer driver on OUI charges after his truck struck an unoccupied cruiser parked outside the Sturbridge barracks, according to the Massachusetts State Police. And in July, a wrong-way driver on Interstate 91 in Holyoke struck another state police cruiser and was subsequently charged with operating under the influence, as reported by WWLP.
Massachusetts troopers Thomas Devlin and Tamar Bucci died in the line of duty in 2020 and 2022, respectively, according to the State Police Association of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Traffic Statistics
Statewide, Massachusetts recorded more than 135,000 motor vehicle collisions and 364 traffic fatalities in 2024, part of an average of roughly 380 traffic deaths annually from 2020 through 2024, per data compiled by Scalli Murphy Law.
