North Carolina trooper uses his own car to stop suspected drunk driver
By Lorraine Taylor, Fox News
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A North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper is being credited for saving lives by putting his own life on the line to stop a suspected drunk driver from entering an interstate going the wrong way.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Trooper Cody Thao used his own patrol car as a barrier to stop the driver who was speeding up an exit ramp the wrong way. The dramatic crash was caught on dashcam video.
Police said Trooper Thao was called in to help with a pursuit in the early morning hours of April 8. Just as the trooper arrived, the pursuit arrived onto the I-40 eastbound ramp to Rock Quarry Road in Wake County. The suspect started driving the wrong way on the ramp.
The video shows Trooper Thao intentionally drive his own car into the path of the suspected drunk driver to stop him from entering the interstate going the wrong way. Amazingly, the trooper was not injured.
“I could not be prouder of Trp. Thao and his quick decision to stop the wrong way driver, his actions most undoubtedly saved lives,” Colonel Freddy L. Johnson, Jr., commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, said in a statement. “His willingness to put himself in harm’s way is representative of the lifesaving work our members do each day. Placing others before ourselves is not just a saying amongst the law enforcement profession, it’s a reality of what we do for the betterment of the communities we serve.”
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This inspires three points:
FIRST, kudos to the trooper who risked his life to save others. No doubt not doing this pretty much would ensure a potential catastrophic accident.
SECOND, my continued harping on why we down engineer roads to prevent this from happening. Parking lot owners have devices that will shred tires if you back up over them or exit the wrong way. Why can’t we deploy these on interstates?
THIRD, DUIs that are not “Micky Mouse” — over a numerical limit at a checkpoint, please — but damage property, hurt some one, or (Heaven Forbid) kill some one need to be SEVERELY punished. No “first time” discount for that type of DUI,
Argh!
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Reinke Faces Life 