So it was around midnight, if not later, this morning when I was driving home from church and post-church activities. I have a pretty long drive to get back home…west on Hwy 14 for about 15 miles, then south on I-5 for about another 8, then south on I-405 for about another 2 and finally westbound on 26 for another 15 or so.
The ride home last night was without incident except two times…traffic had to stop at the Interstate Bridge because they raised it. Never knew how much traffic that could cause at midnight.
The other incident was a doozy. Driving up Hwy. 26 past the tunnel toward Beaverton, I passed a car going 45 in the left lane. Hmm, interesting…I could see why he could go 45 up a 6% grade, but not in the left lane. I drove about three more miles until I get passed by this same guy, but not before he swerves into my lane and almost hits me.
I backed off the gas and trailed this guy (now he was going about 60), and for awhile he was doing okay until he suddenly veered off into the middle lane and back over across the left warning strip. I watched him do this a couple times before I put on my flashers and drove in the opposite lane as him, but kinda staggered so as to keep all the traffic behind me. Before I knew it I was waving my hand out the window as a motion for people to slow down…I didn’t want this guy to hit anyone.
A couple more times across the warning strip for this guy and I decided to call 911. It took me half a minute to get through to them but I told them I wanted the police and I needed to report an erratic driver on Highway 26 going westbound. I stayed behind the guy after he got off the freeway, going south on Cornelius Pass, then on Imbrie, then onto Evergreen, left on 229th and right on Cornell…all while reporting where we were to the dispatcher, who was relaying the information and telling me two units were on Cornell waiting. No sooner did she say that than the guy in the car looked back at me, sped off and got about a block ahead of me.
Once Mr. Loopy zinged ahead, I saw a police car to my left and he gave me a thumbs up before he hit the gas and his lights, and pulled over the guy in the car. The dispatcher told me to pull in front of them and put my flashers on again as they checked if he was drunk, and wait for them to come talk to me.
So I sat in my car and waited…and suddenly I notice the guy in the car driving past me. The cops let him go, so I figured he wasn’t drunk, just driving stupid. That’s what the fuzz said when they came up and talked to me.
Two Hillsboro cops came up right next to my car and said even though the driver wasn’t drunk, he was visibly tired, which is sometimes worse than being drunk. They told me I did the right thing by calling it in and thanked me for following the car and not exceeding the speed limit while doing so. They also thanked me for helping warn traffic about what was going on…who knew how many people could have been hit if they tried to pass him on Hwy. 26.
After I got done talking with the police, I headed home and thanked the Lord for His protection, that nobody — including the crazy driver — was hurt during a rather odd drive home on a very interesting Wednesday evening. Or Thursday morning.
