Wildlife officer’s quick thinking saves driver

LONOKE — An Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officer’s quick thinking may have saved several lives. In late September, Wildlife Officer Andy Smith was eastbound on Interstate 40 in Lonoke County near the Kerr Road exit when he saw a vehicle driving in the wrong direction in the westbound lanes.

Smith, a wildlife officer since 2012, said he noticed the elderly man in the green Dodge pickup was not slowing down.

“He was traveling at about 60 mph. He didn’t appear to be slowing down or attempting to turn around in the correct direction,” Smith explained.

Smith matched the truck’s speed in the eastbound lanes and activated his emergency lights.

“I saw numerous cars and tractor-trailers swerve to avoid a head-on collision with him,” Smith said. “I feared the approaching traffic would be focused on me with my emergency lights and not on the road in front of them,” he added.

Smith said he drove into the median and exited his truck ahead of the approaching driver.

“As I got to the cable barrier, I began waving my arms at the driver. He slowed down and began pulling over toward me,” he said. At this point, westbound traffic had stopped and allowed Smith to contact the elderly man. “When I opened the driver’s door, he appeared very confused, and when I asked him if he knew he was going the wrong way, he said no,” Smith said.

Smith asked the driver to move over into the passenger seat so he could turn the truck around and park the man’s vehicle on the westbound shoulder. The wildlife officer called the AGFC radio room and asked that the Arkansas State Police be contacted to find out if 911 calls had been received on the driver.

“AGFC radio advised me that they had received several 911 calls, and a trooper was en route to my location. After the trooper arrived, we learned that a Silver Alert had been issued earlier for the truck and driver. It was reported that the driver suffered from Alzheimer’s,” Smith said.

Col. Todd Callaway, noting that wildlife officers are trained to handle a variety of situations, said, “Andy’s training and instincts kicked in when he saw this potentially dangerous situation. He probably saved not only the man’s life, but others that were traveling on I-40 that day.”

The driver’s family was contacted, and arrangements were made for him to be picked up.