Pregnant driver calls 911 when brakes fail as she heads toward lake, Illinois cops say
An Illinois sheriff’s deputy used his patrol vehicle to stop a pregnant driver in a runaway car from careening into a lake, authorities said.
Williamson County Sheriff’s deputies responded shortly after 2 a.m. Dec. 2 to a 911 call from a driver in Carterville who said her brakes were not working, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
“I’m 20 weeks pregnant, I cannot die today,” the woman said in the 911 call, according to a recording shared by Good Morning America.
The driver’s brake lights were on, but her car was not slowing down, traveling at about 30 miles per hour, authorities said.
Deputies conducted a “rolling” road block, which involved positioning a patrol vehicle in front of the runway car, allowing the vehicles to gently make contact, then slowly decelerating the deputy’s vehicle until both were stopped, the sheriff’s office said.
The woman’s car was stopped “approximately 1/4 of a mile before reaching Crab Orchard Lake,” authorities said.
“Had the deputy not been on scene or delayed performing this maneuver the driver and vehicle would have likely gone into the water upon reaching the lake,” Sheriff Jeff Diederich said in the release.
The maneuver resulted in little to no damage for both vehicles, according to authorities.
“EMS responded to the scene out of an abundance of caution,” the sheriff’s office said.
Carterville is about a 110-mile drive southeast from St. Louis.
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Pregnant driver calls 911 when brakes fail as she heads toward lake, Illinois cops say."
