My Cell Phone Saved My Life!

Several times a week I drive about an hour one way for my internship. I have several options of roads that I can take to get there, and most of the time I choose to take the highway instead of the freeway. The highway is better on my gas and overall shorter in mileage. Other than nearly hitting a deer one morning, my drive has been pretty uneventful. Until this morning that is.

About half way to my destination, I noticed a car that was tailgating me. I checked my speed to make sure I wasn't going below the speed limit (I was actually 5 miles above) and I didn't think too much more of it. Most of us are guilty of tailgating at some time or other - it happens absentmindedly. I figured if the person wanted to tailgate me instead of passing, so be it.

About 20 minutes later this same car was still behind me and got much closer than before. He was a foot, maybe two behind my rear bumper and he started flashing his brights on and off at me, really fast. I didn't realize at the time that it was the same car as before, and since there was another vehicle coming towards us in the other direction, I figured he just wanted to pass me. I thought about slowing down on the shoulder to let him pass, then decided against it. As soon as the other car was past us, I slowed down a bit to let him pass and he pulled up along side me. Expecting him to pass and being upset, I layed on my horn and yelled at him, even though he couldn't hear me. Then he did something unexpected - he pulled back behind me. Confused and upset, I slowed down again, hoping he'd pass me. He kept flashing his brights at me, and I started wondering what he could want. I thought maybe that there was something wrong with my car and he was trying to get my attention...then I realized any sane person would have given up by now. Then I thought that maybe he was one of my boss's from my internship (it was a similar car to my boss's) but then I realized that my boss would just call me on my phone if he recognized my car. About this time he pulled up along side me again, and I slowed way down...hoping he would finally pass me. Once again he got behind me. After another minute or two he pulled along side me again then got behind me. The whole time he kept flashing his brights at me..by this time I was scared out of my senses, and grabbed my cell phone. I didn't know if I should call the police or what, so I tried to call my mom - only no service. I kept redialing until I finally had service and got through. I put the phone to my ear and I decided to speed way up to just try to get away from the guy. As my mom answered with a cheerful "how are you?" the man behind me turned around and sped away in the other direction. The last I saw of him was in my rearview mirror as he turned quickly off of the highway.

I broke down in tears with my mom and I was shaking. I was able to get a few things from the perosn - he was most likely a middle aged man of average build and drove a silver car. I didn't get the plate, because I was too shaken up to think to look at his plates. After I got safely to my internship and was inside, I called 911 and reported the incident.

This morning when I was getting ready to leave, I nearly forgot my cell phone. God was looking out for me when He reminded me to grab it. I'm convinced that the man saw me on my cell phone, and that scared him into leaving me alone. If I wouldn't have had my cell phone this morning, I shudder to think of what would have happened to me. The incident ocurred in the early twilight of eight a.m., 10 minutes out of the town. I saw only one other car the entire time during this event - and that was the car that past us in the other direction, which happened in the very beginning. I had no cell phone service, and was alone - a fact he made sure of by driving along side of me three times to look in my car.

The point is that I was alone in a deserted area this morning. Had the man decided to run me off of the road, it wouldn't have been hard. Had I decided to slow down on the side of the road or pull over...he could have done anything to me. Had I just driven to my internship, he would have followed me most likely - and my internship is deserted at that time. Had I just kept driving, who knows how long he would have followed me. I don't know what his intentions were or what would have happened, because I had my cell phone, which scared him away. It's very likely that my phone saved me from serious injury and or death today.

Please, don't think I made this up. It was too scary to make up. I'm urging all of you, to have a cell phone and carry it with you at all times. Don't forget it, ever..and make sure it's charged - always. If you do forget it, turn around and go home and get it, even if it'll make you late. If someone does to you what they did to me this morning, try to get the plates and try to keep your cool (though it's hard). If you don't have service for your phone, try calling 911 anyways. I was informed by emergency services that it should still work. If you had problems with your phone and your service plan is canceled, keep it charged and with you anyways - you can still call 911. Even without a sim card you can call 911. Can't afford a cell? Buy a pay as you go phone. They're relatively inexpensive, and you aren't set in a plan for a set amount of time.

I hope you are scared after reading this and I hope you know how important and serious this is.

P.S. I also wanted to urge you guys to remind your loved ones and your kids, if they're old enough to drive..to never ever ever pull over for anyone if you are in the middle of nowhere. If it's the police behind you, call 911 first and tell them that you know that the police is there and that you would rather wait until you get to a populated spot before pulling over. If you don't have a phone, but on your four ways. It's better to be paranoid and safe than it is to trust everyone and get hurt. Please, talk to your kids about what to do in this situation. I pray that the person who did this to me doesn't do this to someone else...and I pray that no one ever does this to any of you.

Also..don't let fear rule your world.