Woman's clever method of deterring speeding drivers
A grandmother who was annoyed by speeding drivers has earned the praise of police after taking the law - and a hairdryer - into her own hands.
Peeved at police-evading speedsters, Patti Baumgartner set herself up on the side of the road with the electric hair styling device aimed at oncoming traffic.
She shared photos of her road-side in Finley Point, Montana in the US with the drier in one hand and a coffee in the other to her Facebook in August, with her act soon going viral.
“I’m helping to keep Finley Point safe. Slow down! Speed checked by radar,” her post read.
The act soon drew the attention of local police and after being tracked down, she was made an honorary state trooper by Trooper Noah Pesola from the Montana Highway Patrol.
“I was able to find Ms Patti. She was made an honorary Trooper with a campaign hat and sticker badge for her work to keep her grandkids safe,” the officer wrote in a Tweet.
The pair posed for a photo for his post, with the grandmother shown wearing a plastic trooper hat and holding her new badge.
Trooper Pesola told news site KPAX he thought the idea was hilarious and a creative way to combat speeding drivers, “without making people too upset”.
“She says she's got grandkids in the area, so she's doing something for her grandkids benefit. The best thing I could think of was give her a trooper hat and a badge to make her look a little more official,” he said.
Ms Baumgartner said she was unsure her method had impacted drivers but was committed to continuing her personal mission to slow them down.
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