Stories From the Road: The Heat

[Droopy]

I wrote not long ago about how truck drivers have to be mentally tough, but they don't have to be as tough as cops- especially state troopers. To be a state trooper you have to be physically tough as well as mentally tough and their job is much more dangerous than a trucker's. Cops are an important part of a trucker's job, so I think I owe them at least one story. There are truckers out there who see cops as nothing more than a nuisance, but there are some truckers like me who respect the police. That's because they've saved my ass before and I'll tell you about that, too.

To be a state trooper you have to be willing to take the risk of being shot at; of being in high speed chases; and at the mercy of traffic. Let me show you what I mean.

Not long ago there was a trooper who pulled over someone for a routine traffic violation. He was down on I-71 just north of Cincinnati. He was standing there on the shoulder of the road talking to the speeder and doing the things that cops do when they pull someone over. Along came a careless driver who was driving distractedly in the right lane, and then the cop was no more. They have named that stretch of I-71 after the officer in memorial. Not long after that, the state of Ohio passed a law requiring motorists on our interstates to move over into the left lane when an emergency vehicle is on the shoulder. If you can't move over due to traffic, you are supposed to slow down as you pass the emergency vehicle. Truckers have been doing that as a courtesy ever since they invented four lane highways. But many four wheelers in Ohio still haven't gotten the message despite the big signs.

A couple of weeks ago I was cruising southbound down I-75 at about mile marker 104. It was about 2 o'clock in the morning and there wasn't hardly anyone out there. Just the occasional trucker and, of course, the state patrol. I had the cruise set at 60 when one of those little modified, souped up Hondas blew by me at about 110 mph. No sooner than he was by me I saw a car from the northbound side do a flip through the median to the southbound side and take off after the little Honda. I didn't see the markings on the car, but I knew that could only be the state patrol. I just wondered if he was going to be able to catch that little Honda. He did catch him about 14 miles down the road at mile marker 90 there in Sidney. Two guys had been in the car. One was laying face down on the ground, and the other one appeared to be wrestling with the cop. It looked like the cop getting the better of him. I was about to call 911 to get the cop some assistance, but I saw that he had already put a call out when four state troopers zoomed by me headed north with their lights going.

Yeah, buddy. You gotta be tough to be a cop.

But being a cop isn't all about toughness. This has been a hard winter here in Ohio. We've had lots of ice, snow, and colder than average temperatures. I broke down on one of those incredibly cold nights right at about the same spot where that police chase went down. I was actually on the 99 on ramp. My truck would not run and it was 19 below zero- the coldest I'd ever seen it anywhere. I had a call in to the shop and they were sending someone out, but I had no idea when they'd be there and they are notoriously slow. As I sat there and eyeballed the temperature gauge, the inside of the truck's windows started icing up from the moisture coming off of me. I thought I was going to have to call for help when a state trooper pulled up and let me sit in his car and keep warm until the mechanic showed up. He did run my driver's license number, though. :D

There's been another time when the cops helped me out, but it deserves its own story and I haven't got the guts to write it right now. I don't know if I ever will.

[flvegan]

1. Every now and then

I'll leave the tv on that Tru TV network. They show those "Most Shocking..." shows of home movies, security tapes and cop dash cam footage. I'm amazed at how many vids there are of some cop pulling someone over (or tending to a wreck, etc) and the cop either gets clipped by some idiot driving by or his car gets plowed into (or the pulled over car gets plowed into.

When I see lights with someone pulled over, I give the courtesy of moving a lane over if I'm in the lane closest passing them.

[Droopy]

2. That's the way to do it, flvegan.

A lot of states have passed laws requiring you to move over or slow down for emergency vehicles on the shoulders of inerstates. I think it should be a law in every state and we need a PSA campaign.

[no name no slogan]

4. I watch those shows quite a bit myself

And I agree flvegan, what is the deal with some of those people? The roads are clear, and here they are clipping cops as they make a stop. American drivers are terrible, for the most part (at least the ones on four wheels), and don't have a clue as to what is going on around them when they're driving. You'd think that wing mirrors were optional equipment, the way some of them operate.

[suninvited]

3. Good post.

My son is a big city police officer, and I worry almost as much about him getting hit by a car on the side of the road as I worry about him being shot.

[Droopy]

5. Thanks suninvited

I hope your son has an uneventful career as a police man. My mom worries quite a bit about me being a trucker. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a parent of a police officer. I bet you have trouble sleeping sometimes.