THE TRIALS OF A HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

by Albert N. Levison

In the summer of 1956, while assigned to the Nürnburg HP Station, my partner [Spc. Drennan] and I had left the station on the 4 PM to midnight shift.  We were proceeding from Nürnburg to the A-3 Autobahn on Zubringer Strasse, an 8-lane undivided highway.  It was a beautiful summer afternoon and the traffic at that time was, for all practical purposes, nonexistent.  We had just stopped a Lieutenant for speeding in his C-Plate vehicle.  It was a classic stop with the civilian vehicle pulled off the right side of the road and the patrol car a short distance behind.  As I was checking the Lieutenant's documents, something hit me, knocking me against the driver's door.  The Lieutenant's wife's eyes were about to bulge out, and I felt a breezy coolness in the seat of my pants.  I had been struck by an old Citroen with Swedish license plates, which continued down the road at an estimated speed of 10-15 MPH.

There was no speed limit for this car but it continued slowly down the road.  Handing the documents back to the Lieutenant, I backed slowly toward the patrol car.  As I got into the car, I told my shocked partner “Let's get him, he hit me.”  We soon overtook the vehicle, which was still roaring down the road at the same speed.  The driver ignored our siren and lights, so we pulled along side and blew the siren again.  Again, we were still ignored.  I observed that the driver was the sole occupant of the car and was driving with both arms fully extended; leaned back over the back of the front seat.  He still ignored us, so we pulled ahead to crowd him off the road.  At that time, I observed a plate affixed over his front license plate.  Yellow with three black balls.  He was BLIND.  After turning him over to the German Police, we proceeded to the Nürnburg US Army Hospital, where I was repaired.  The forward facing door handle had raked across my posterior, tearing my trousers, drawers and Sgt. Levison.  I next went home, changed my trousers, and we continued on patrol.  The German Police fined the driver 5 Marks, released him, and I was denied gratuitous reissue of trousers.  If you can think that far back, how was your day?