You Don’t Read That In The Magazines Every Day!

I’m a 30-year-old female who has twice been seriously injured in car accidents when others have been distracted.

My husband and I are heading home from a long day of work and we are stuck behind a woman who refuses to push the gas pedal. I tell my husband that I’d love to make a sign that says, “No, your other right!” to get her moving. I have no paper or a marker, so instead, we say things to her we’d never have the courage to say to her face, like, “Pull over!” My husband starts singing the Ludacris song, Move B****. I laugh and agree with him that she needs to move!

We finally get a chance to change lanes, and as we pass her we notice that she isn’t just texting, which is illegal in Utah, but she’s literally reading a magazine. She’s thumbing through pages, circling what she likes, and dog-earing the pages. She starts swerving, and a few moments later she goes from the carpool lane to the exit and then swerves back onto the freeway. She narrowly avoids several accidents.

I’m fed up at this point, so I call it in to Highway Patrol. I don’t have the number for the county we’re in so when I call I make sure to tell the dispatcher that I need another county. She transfers me to highway patrol. I speak for about three minutes with their dispatcher and am then told I need to be transferred to the other county! I’m a bit in shock… I already said that!

I finally get transferred and actually speak with a sheriff. I relate what the driver is doing and he replies, “She’s reading a magazine? While driving?!”

I reply, “Yes, sir, that’s why I called. She’s being dangerous, and I’d like her to stop her behavior.”

He promises to get an officer right out. Sure enough, a UHP officer heading the other direction slips through the median, flips around, and flips on his lights. Within a few moments, he has her pulled over. 

We turn off the radio and roll down the windows just in time to hear her say, “I don’t care what I was doing behind the wheel. I wasn’t drinking and I didn’t wreck! You have no right to pull me over!” She then tries to pull away from the officer, but he reaches in her open window and shuts off her ignition.

I have a feeling she’s getting a big ticket!