A sleepy driver going the wrong way on U.S. Route 131 was stopped by police just in time before he could cause a potentially fatal head-on crash.
The shocking incident happened on December 20 at around 2:45 a.m. near Wyoming, Michigan and was captured by the police car’s dashcam. In the footage, we see the patrol car going about its business in the middle lane when all of a sudden the officer driving the vehicle swerved to the right lane.
The reason he did that for quickly becomes apparent: there was a vehicle going the opposite way that went past the police car and continued driving. Officer Tony Jacob quickly turned his car and went in pursuit of the wrong-way driver with the lights and sirens on to warn other motorists.
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As he caught up with the offender, who was driving at 50-60 mph (80-96 km/h), he quickly realized the sirens and lights weren’t enough to stop the wrong-way driver. When the officer got alongside the vehicle he realized the driver appeared to be sleeping!
As a last resort, the policeman nudged and pushed the other vehicle, causing it to slowly spin sideways and come to a stop. It was only then that the driver came to his senses. Startled, he told the police he had not slept for 40 hours, according to MLive.
Thanks to the officer’s quick reaction time, the wrong-way driver was stopped before he could injure or kill other road users in a head-on crash.