CHP deaths: An occupational hazard?

CHP Officer Joseph Rodriguez cracked open the door of his patrol car on Monday, squeezing between his black-and-white and the traffic whizzing by. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

He passed the telltale scratches on the fender, like those found on most CHP patrol cars, made by officers' equipment belts as they cling to their vehicles for safety.

"On the freeway, it's definitely a different monster," said Rodriguez, 27, of the West Valley station in Woodland Hills, whose car No. 608 patrols the San Fernando Valley.