VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Police Department has released frightening dash cam footage of an allegedly distracted driver who hit a police vehicle on the side of the road.

The traffic constable had his emergency lights on and had pulled a car over on the McGill Street onramp to Highway 1 on Sept. 23. Coincidentally, the officer was issuing a ticket as part of a distracted driving campaign when another driver slammed into the police vehicle from behind.

The impact sent the police SUV into the roadway.

The officer was injured and hasn't returned to work, according to VPD media relations officer Sgt. Aaron Roed.

"Unfortunately, this is the type of unsafe driving behaviour that we continue to see on the roads," he said.

The driver who struck the officer is a 47-year-old man from Vancouver with an L licence. This man and his passenger were not injured in the collision, Roed said.

He added the driver was issued three tickets: one for driving without due care and attention, another for disobeying his driver's licence restrictions and a third for failure to display an L on his vehicle.