A grandmother in Montana is now an honorary state trooper when she took matters- and a hair dryer- into her hands to stop speeders.
Patti Baumgartner was made famous after a picture of her showed up on social media. The picture shows her on the side of the road pointing a hair dryer at cars. To the passing motorist the hair dryer looks a lot like a radar gun police use to track speed.
As both a mom and grandma, Baumgartner wants cars on South Finely Point to slow down for people’s safety.
She said – “They forget to slow down and there are a lot of people that are complaining about that, they can’t walk or ride their bikes. I wouldn’t even attempt riding a bike around here.”
So, Patti decided to take matters into her own hands.
She said, “We were talking about maybe something would slow the cars down. So, we decided to put me in a chair and I guess use the hair dryer as a speed thing.”
Patti’s son took a photo of her and tweeted it out to Trooper Noah Pesola, hoping to catch his attention. And it did.
Pesola said, “I thought it was hilarious, I think that we have a speed issue in Montana and I thought it was a great creative idea for the public to try and combat that a little bit without making people too upset,”
Trooper Pesola liked the idea so much, he gave Baumgartner a special title — honorary state trooper.
Baumgartner says she can’t tell if her white hair dryer really slowed cars down, but she plans on using it again to bring awareness to speeding cars in the neighborhood.