Washington Post: Do ‘traffic angels’ drive semi-trucks?

By Lori Aratani

Ever wish that divine intervention might help you cut through traffic congestion? Well, this wasn’t exactly divine intervention, but someone we’ll call a “traffic angel” helped steer a Leesburg family through some pretty nasty holiday traffic.

In a letter to The Washington Post’s Editorial Page published Monday, Christine Hart described a holiday driving experience that proves you can find humanity and kindness even when you see nothing by tail lights in front of you. Hart wrote:

“On Dec. 27, my family and I were returning to our Virginia home after spending a wonderful Christmas with my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters on Nantucket Island. The journey, albeit long, was going well until traffic came to a dead stop east of Harrisburg on Interstate 81. There were brake lights glowing as far as we could see.” 

She continued:

“After about 20 minutes of stop, drive five feet, stop, repeat, we were resigned to many more hours in the car. Suddenly in the adjacent lane a trucker lowered his window and motioned for me to do the same. When I did, he asked us where we were headed and we told him Northern Virginia. He smiled and said, “I’m on my way home to Emmitsburg. The traffic is backed up for 15 miles on this highway. Follow me.”

 With a little trepidation (perhaps we’ve watched too many episodes of “Criminal Minds”) we did just that, following him through Harrisburg on highways and byways that we had no idea existed. About 30 minutes later we found ourselves heading south on Route 15 — just where we wanted to be.

I am writing in the hope that this man will read my letter and know how much we appreciated his random act of kindness.”