A snow-bound nightmare was narrowly avoided last Sunday in Boston, as a disoriented 76-year-old man took a treacherous drive down the wrong side of Interstate 93, authorities said. In a moment that could have become a multiple car disaster, the elderly driver instead managed to spark a police operation that stopped his misguided journey peacefully before any harm was done. According to Boston 25 News, the man driving a 2015 Toyota Corolla was "extremely confused and stated that he did not know where he was," when finally halted by the Massachusetts State Police.
The potentially tragic incident unfolded around 9:15 p.m, when multiple emergency calls came in about a car erratically driving south on the northbound lane during a vigorous snowstorm, and it began with one disoriented individual at the wheel of a vehicle weighing a couple of tons, a vehicle that bore down on others as it veered into roads on which it never should have ventured in those conditions. The Boston Globe reported that the situation was brought under control with the help of the state highway department which, together with State Police, created a blockade using snowplow trucks to stop the rogue Corolla near Exit 11 in Milton.
The name of the 76-year-old Lynn resident behind the wheel was withheld but he was reportedly very confused upon stopping and revealed he was unaware of his whereabouts. Post-incident evaluation by the Troopers attributed the man's erratic driving to underlying health issues rather than substance impairment. After his vehicle was towed, a friend collected the elderly man from the State Police barracks in South Boston.
In the aftermath, the State Troopers who were quick in their response acted with compassion and a duty to ensure public safety, they issued an immediate threat notice with the RMV for the man's license suspension, also citing him for a wrong-way violation the dangerous situation was de-escalated without injury.
