We had been married about six years when my husband decided to move and take a job in a little town of about twelve hundred people in East Texas. I was not too happy. We had been in a great church, and I loved having a mall practically in my back yard to stroll my toddler around in when she was fussy. The closest mall to our new home was an hour away, but Jason promised me that he would never complain about the gas money it would cost for me to drive there, and he was true to his word.
It was here that we finally purchased our first cell phones. I made the long trek to the mall and other shopping places at least once a week. With a toddler and pregnant with my second child I felt much better knowing I’d be able to call some one if I had a flat tire or something.
One day when my little daughter and I were on the way to the mall, the car in front of me on the two-lane road was going considerably slower than the speed limit. I’m not a driver who is aggressive enough to try to pass when there could be oncoming traffic, so I just followed at a safe distance. Every few miles there was a passing lane, so when the next one came up, I sped up and passed the slow poke and continued my journey at the speed limit.
I don’t know if my passing the guy ticked him off or if he had ulterior motives from the beginning, but after I passed him, he sped up and followed right at my bumper. I didn’t remember anyone ever tailing me like this before, but we were the only two cars on the road, and I was growing uneasy.
When the next passing lane came up, the guy pulled around and drove parallel to my car. With my peripheral vision I could tell that he was staring at me, trying to get my attention. My dad taught me from the time I was little when we lived in and near Mexico not to look at the drivers in the other cars, so I never looked directly at him.
As the passing lane once again ended, he pulled in front of me and slowed way down again. Now I was starting to get scared. Why was he hassling me? I knew I hadn’t done anything that should have aroused his anger, so my mind started racing to the worst possible scenarios.
Remembering I had my new cell phone with me, I dialed my husband’s work number. No one answered. As the answering machine came on, I pulled up close enough to the car to see his license plate. I read the number into the phone and left a quick message, telling my husband that I was being stalked on the highway and if anything happened to me, this was the license number of my stalker.
When I pulled out my phone and began talking into it, the man picked up speed and left me alone. I have no idea what would have happened had I not flashed my cell phone, but I was very, very thankful for it that day.
Later when I was talking to a police officer friend of ours, he told me that I should have dialed 911 immediately because this was a scenario they have seen often with sinister results!
Wow, that is scary…especially when you are in a deserted area! Glad you had that cell phone. BTW, I popped over from Amanda’s Weekend Bloggy Reading party to say hi.
I agree. I would’ve definitely called 911 right away.
What a world we live in where you have to watch out for folks like that on the road! Makes me pray that God puts a hedge of protection around the ones I love . . . So glad the man left you alone, Esther!
Scary story! Wondering what Jason’s response was to get a message like that. Glad the guy moved on!
scary. glad things turned out well
very scary!! something like this happened to me once but I also had my mom in the car. glad all turned out ok and as much as we sometimes don’t like all this new technology, it certainly comes in handy!!
Wow….I don’t know what I would have done. I can never EVER think properly under stress! Thankfully it turned out ok…and those are moments I a so very thankful for our phones:)
Wow! That’s scary! Good thing it turned out okay.
That is so creepy. I’m bad to leave my cell phone at home…I forget it a lot. Maybe I could pull off my shoe and use it as a decoy.
Wise move using the phone. I remember that happening to people years ago before the cell phone. That is one very postive benefit of having those things! Glad everything turned out ok.
How nervewrecking! I once had someone do something similar. Scary!
How terrifying! I think I would have dialed 911…my husband never answers at the office. :s I’m so glad he didn’t try to bump your car or anything! A good reminder to stay safe and be aware!
Thank you so much for joining my Weekend Bloggy Ready party. 🙂
Oh my word! All these scary stories… are you *trying* to scare us? It worked, btw. I was getting the heebie jeebies reading your story! Glad you were safe. Gotta love those guardian angels! Oh, and I think my gut instinct would’ve been to call my husband too, and not 911 (even if I should have). You’re not always thinking clearly when you’re scared, and when you’re scared the first person you think of is your own personal protector — your man!
How creepy. Something similar happened to me once. Someone got mad at me for driving only 5 miles above the speed limit, and he was tailgating me. When I got off the freeway, he followed me. This was back when I was single, so you can imagine how frieked out I was! I decided to drive to the police station. Finally he went away.
About calling your husband–I got stuck in the elevator at work and called my husband before I even thought of using the emergency phone provided. He couldn’t help, but I felt better anyway.
That is really scary Esther! I am so glad that you had your cell phone and were able to scare the guy away, terrifying!
That’s really scary, Esther. I’m glad nothing bad happened. You just don’t know about some people. Crazy.
That is scary and I probably would have called my husband first too!
You’re so cute, I wonder if he was a teenager who wanted your attention. Either way, it sounds like you had a bad feeling about the whole thing. I would be scared too. I always just imagine people are following me. I wouldn’t have thought to call 911 right away either, but I will after reading your story. Janae
Scary! I’ve had a couple of incidents in my life that when I look back, I realize could have ended really badly. God is good!
How scary! That was a really smart thing to do.
Thanks for joining my party, Esther!
We have to be so careful now-a-days! I’m glad it turned out alright for you! Next time something like this happens to me, I’ll be sure to do the same thing and call 911! <3 Thank you for posting this!
This has happened a few times to me here in Mexico with the police, they have their lights on and siren, even yell at you to pull over with a loudspeaker, but I would never do that, knowing that they could kidnap me or have their way with me. Your father was very wise in giving you advice to never look at another driver, just keep driving along and eventually they will leave you alone. I will not even stop for the police here, and always have my cell phone handy.
Great article by the way, good advice on how to deal with someone harassing you on the road.
Cheers,
Flora