PHOENIX — When saving lives, every second counts. Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper Estevan Dibene knows that firsthand.
“This is why so many of us suit up every day. It’s to protect complete strangers,” he said.
On Thursday, Dibene and another trooper were wrapping up a crash scene on State Route 51 and Shea Boulevard when they went into action to stop another one.
“Coincidentally, we saw a wrong-way driver pass by our scene."
According to DPS, the driver was headed south in the north lanes of State Route 51.
Dibene and a second trooper didn’t waste a second. They quickly hopped into their cars.
They drove north to Cactus Road and then headed south on State Route 51 to Glendale Avenue.
The pair then headed north to stop the car in the wrong direction.
Dibene said initially he tried to slow the car down by pinning it.
It didn’t work. He said the car hit him and kept going. Dibene suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Finally, a second trooper hit the car head-on, forcing it to stop.
The driver had traveled some five miles in the opposite direction.
“Had she gone another five, ten seconds, there was another wave of cars headed that way,” he said. If it wasn’t for the both of us, she could have possibly kept on continuing," he added.
Inside the car was an 82-year-old woman. Dibene said she was confused but not impaired.
“She simply had no idea where she was,” he said.
But he said impairment is a factor in many wrong-way crashes. Many happen around 2 a.m. - when many bars and establishments that sell alcohol and liquor start to close.
“For the price of a drink or two, you can call an Uber, taxi or Lyft to take you home. You can save your life and the lives of others,” he said.
Because of the danger of wrong-way drivers at night, he urges drivers to avoid riding in HOV lanes after dark.
"The impaired drivers will think that they're driving on the correct side of the highway, and to them, they think they're driving on the slow lane," Dibene said.
Dibene and the other trooper both suffered minor injuries in the ordeal.
He returned to work Friday, less than 48 hours after the crash. He knows the dangers associated with the job, but it’s about saving lives for him.
“Knowing that something catastrophic, something dangerous might happen.. and yet we go out there every single day... hoping we're in the right place at the right time," he said.
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