The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

October 10, 2008

Roads give motorist anxiety attack; trooper requested

By Amelia A. Pridemore

West Virginia’s mountain roads often make people think of peaceful country living, beautiful scenery and a classic John Denver song.

But authorities say the terrain apparently gave one motorist an anxiety attack Friday afternoon, and she wanted a state trooper to escort her from a West Virginia Turnpike rest area.

According to Turnpike Operations, an attendant at the southbound rest area in Kanawha County called dispatchers just after 5 p.m. A woman, who came from an unknown location, told the attendant she was having an anxiety attack caused by driving through the West Virginia mountains.

The woman wanted a state trooper to escort her to Beckley, Turnpike Operations said. Dispatchers said that could not be done. She was told she could call someone she knew to pick her up, or an ambulance crew could take her to a hospital.

Instead, the woman simply left on her own, Turnpike Operations said. Dispatchers said they have worked with people who were wary of the curvy, winding roads, but they had never seen anyone who claimed to be having a full-blown anxiety attack.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com

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