Highway patrol stops traffic to save textbooks lost in student’s I-580 crash, CHP says
“Lost my textbooks in a highway crash” might have been the perfect excuse for handing in assignments late — but it’s not one this student can use.
California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland wrote in a Facebook post that a college student driving on Interstate 580 near Lakeshore Avenue was involved in a crash on Thursday morning that sent her to the hospital. But the local student realized in the hospital that her textbooks — which had been in her trunk — had gone missing, CHP said.
Officers came up with a solution: They went back and got them for the student, conducting a zigzag traffic break to stop other drivers and grab the books, CHP said.
“We transported her books to the emergency room,” highway patrol officers wrote. “It is safe to say we made a new friend!”
A CHP officer with the law enforcement agency’s Central Division explained in the Fresno Bee a few years ago why the zigzag maneuver is useful.
“Highways have a heavy flow of traffic and in order to remove hazards, officers must create a full traffic break,” officer Traci Gallian wrote in 2016, though in this case, the “hazard” was actually textbooks. “Usually one to two miles before reaching the hazard, an officer will pick a spot within traffic and activate the rear lights of the patrol vehicle. The officer will then zigzag across lanes until he/she has the attention of all the vehicles approaching from behind.”
CHP didn’t provide information on the student’s condition, and the student’s name was not released.
Facebook commenters thanked highway patrol on the student’s behalf — and said how grateful they would be if they were in her situation, considering the astronomical cost of textbooks.
“I know she appreciated that one,” one Facebook commenter said.
CHP agreed.
“Some of us are still making payments for those college books!” Oakland officers wrote.
Police shared photos along with the Facebook post — one showing a banged-up car from the rear with its back fender hanging loose, and another showing a car missing most of its front, parked on the side of the road near a Walgreens store.
