Kudos and Kindness: Visitor says thank you for roadside assistance
It was Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010 at about 6:45 p.m. On westbound Highway 50 I was going to make a left turn; the intersection was not well lit. It was eastbound Elks Club Road. Because there was a white sign near the intersection, it looked like a directional sign. Well my car, a '98 Camry, overshot the turn, leaving my two front wheels in the icy snow.
After stopping and getting out, then trying to back out of it, a Good Samaritan motorist stopped to help. He tried moving my '98 Toyota Camry by pushing it, to no avail. Then a man and his wife offered to help; also a young man and his girlfriend stopped, he was going up to his house to return a cable. And yet this couple stopped as well, and four young ladies and a young man said they would try to push the car out.
As they sludged through the mushy water, I said it was "Too wet, thanks though." And a couple of men got their truck backed up and we were (going to get) their cable hooked up, when the California Highway Patrol showed up, because I called 911 first for help and the dispatcher said a unit would be dispatched. There were four CHP vehicles there, directions were given to me, a cable strap was attached to me car, I was told by bullhorn that he was pulling me out, and the rest of the officers directed traffic around the scene. I was then, with the help from the CHP, back into west Highway 50 toward my destination.
Thanks to the California Highway Patrol and the Tahoe Good Samaritans for your unsolicited assistance on Highway 50. You're great. Have a Happy New Year. I am!
Richard P. Burke