POLSON, Mont. -- A grandmother in Montana is now an honorary state trooper thanks to some ingenuity and a hair dryer, KPAX reports.
Patti Baumgartner said she wants cars in her neighborhood to slow down, so she took matters into her owns hands.
A photo of Baumgartner sitting with her hair dryer on the side of the road went viral on social media.
A mother and a grandmother, Baumgartner wants cars in her neighborhood to slow down for people's safety.
"They forget to slow down and there are a lot of people that are complaining about that they can't walk or ride their bikes," Baumgartner said. "We were talking about maybe something would slow the cars down. So we decided to put me in a chair and I guess use the hair dryer as a speed thing."
Her son took the picture of her and tweeted it out to Trooper Noah Pesola with Montana Highway Patrol, hoping to catch his attention. Pesola said it did.
"I thought it was hilarious. I think that we have a speed issue in Montana, and I thought it was a great creative idea for the public to try and combat that a little bit without making people too upset," Pesola said.
Pesola liked it so much he gave Baumgartner a special title.
"It's not official or anything like that for the honorary trooper, which is kinda what I called it," Pesola said. "I didn't know what else to do for her when she's doing something for the community and like she says, she's got grandkids in the area, so she's doing something for her grandkids' benefit. The best thing I could think of was give her a trooper hat and a badge to make her look a little more official."
Baumgartner said she can't tell if her white hair dryer really slowed cars down, but she plans on using it again to bring awareness to speeding cars in the neighborhood.
