Thomas Prado, a delivery driver, was shocked to find the elderly motorist driving at 55 mph in the wrong direction.
An elderly Texas woman, who said she was late for a hair appointment, was found speeding down a highway in the wrong direction and may have been killed if not for a good Samaritan who put his own life on the line in a bid to stop her.
Thomas Prado, a delivery driver, was stunned when he spotted the 94-year-old motorist on a highway in Texas driving at speeds of more than 55 miles per hour.
He took off after her in a desperate attempt to get her to pull over.
“I knew something wasn't right,” he told Inside Edition. “If there any way I could stop that, I was willing to do anything I could."
He yelled for her to stop and held up his hand but she didn’t notice.
So he chased after her and finally got her to stop. She said she knew she was going the wrong way and was "trying to get to the other side."
The woman was frail and confused as he helped her out of the car. Prado says the woman was "late for a hair appointment."
"She said she had to be there for 8:00 and it was 9:00," he said.
Drivers 85 and older must renew their driver's license in person every two years, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Any driver over the age of 79 is required to take a vision test and submit to a medical evaluation process when renewing their license.
Car safety expert Lauren Fix explained how to tell some of elderly family members to get off the road.
"Some of the signs to look for when it is time to give up the keys are your depth perception is off, maybe you can’t see well at night, you miss turn signals, you find yourself in trouble getting speeding tickets or driving too slow," she told Inside Edition.
She says Prado did the right thing and likely saved lives.
"He had such a good heart and going out of his way to help that woman get off the road, not a lot of people would have stopped," Fix added.
RELATED STORIES
