I said a prayer and gave myself a pep talk to not panic. I quickly grabbed my cell phone and placed the frantic call. They answered, “911, what’s your emergency?”
From what I remember, I replied with something along the lines of, “There is a reckless driver all over the road.” I could barely complete my sentences without gasping. As I drove behind the vehicle, keeping my distance, I watched the car in front of me swerve rapidly to the right, going off the road onto the dirt and up a grass bank. They kept driving as if they were a golf cart or go-kart burning rubber in the grass. Then, they quickly zig-zagged back over the white line onto the road to recklessly cross the double yellow line all while navigating a 90-degree turn in the road. I could barely keep my composure. The driver was all over the road. My heart was gripped with fear. I drove, prayed, and did my best to talk through the situation on the phone with the dispatcher. Then, the driver crossed the double yellow line again to play a game of chicken with a semi-truck. They were both barreling toward one another in the same lane—head-on. The semi finally slowed down and swerved right to go onto the dirt shoulder of the road. Clouds of dust were flying everywhere, and in a blink of an eye, it was clear—lives were at stake.
The carelessness continued as I tried my best to explain roads and crossroads to the emergency dispatcher on the other end of the line. I could not tell if the driver was driving while under the influence, having a medical emergency, or intentionally putting lives at risk for a quick adrenaline rush like a bad game of Russian roulette behind the wheel. The dispatcher put a tracker on my phone to find my exact location as quickly as possible.
