Grandmother uses hair dryer as fake radar gun to deter speeding on local street

POLSON, Mont. - A Montana grandmother worried about her grandchildren playing near a road where cars often zoomed by, so she got creative in an effort to get people to slow down.

In mid-August, Patti Forest Baumgartner took out a comfortable chair and sat along Finley Point in Polson. She then held a hair dryer, pointing it at cars in the hope that speeding motorists would assume it was a radar gun.

Her son, Tim Baumgartner, took a photo of her sitting along the road, hair dryer in one hand and a red cup of her favorite beverage in another.

While it’s unclear if Patti’s efforts caused anyone to slow down, it certainly caught people’s attention.

Her son shared the photos he took on Twitter, tagging Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Noah Pesola.

Pesola ended up tracking Patti down and dubbed her an honorary Montana trooper. He shared a photo of the two them together, with Patti donning a campaign hat and sticker badge.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.