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Omaha man hit by distracted driver six times in two years

Posted at 10:16 PM, Jul 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-18 23:16:45-04

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Around a year ago, Don Gearhart was fed up. Three times in a 12 month span he got rear-ended by a driver on the phone.

"Told my wife I'm done with driving, this is ridiculous, it's God telling me you need to get a different job so I actually went to work in a factory for about a month,” says Don Gearhart.

It didn't take long for him to get back into driving for a living, and almost a year went by, before it happened again. This time on 132nd and West Center Road.

It was a three vehicle wreck where his trailer ended up on another vehicle's hood, the driver of the van on the left, had to go to the hospital.

"I'm at a red light and people are just running into the back of me. I think they just miscalculated the distance between them and me because they were busy watching their phone,” says Gearhart.

Then less than two weeks ago, Gearhart got hit again in the McDonalds drive-thru. Another three vehicle crash. This time the driver fled, Omaha Police are still investigating.

"The guy behind me who got pushed into me unfortunately his insurance company has to pay for the damage on my vehicle,” says Gearhart.

A few days later, you guessed it. Another wreck. This time damaging his hitch.

So within two years, he’s been in six accidents.

“It's getting to the point where it's ridiculous, something needs to be done,” says Gearhart.

After the last crash he called our station fed up. He's willing to go down to Lincoln to testify in the future. Hoping to change the laws and for the accidents to stop, or at least slow down.

"I think if the law is passed, there's going to be a percentage of people that will adhere to it and of course there will be a percentage of people that will ignore it,” says Gearhart.