“You Want Me To Talk You Through It? I Can Do That”: Officer Teaches Stalled Teenager How To Get Back On The Road
There is nothing more terrifying than dealing with law enforcement (at least for me). The sheer understanding of how flexible the law is, how many clauses and notions there are—too many for a mere mortal to remember in a tense moment—and the fact that you feel powerless when confronted by someone employed to enforce said law is enough to freeze anyone in place.
I can be fully sure that I never took any illegal substances, never made any bombs, never held a firearm, but one run in with law enforcement will have me believe I belong with the mafia and am trying to go undercover.
However, police officers are oftentimes there to help, rather than to punish. Of course, we have a lot of examples of the former, yet today we’ll look at a very heartwarming example of an officer doing his best to help someone in need. Let’s get into it!
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Cleveland County Deputy Kendrae Traylor and his partner Ryan Graham came across a stalled car in the middle of the road and decided to investigate
Image credits: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office- OK
A young woman found herself in a little bit of a pickle one evening. Her car stalled and she was stuck in the middle of the road, trying her best to stay calm and restart the vehicle, but to no avail. Soon, she saw a police car approaching her and, if I was in her shoes, I think I would have started crying.
Cleveland County Deputy Kendrae Traylor and his partner Ryan Graham of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, pulled up to the stalled car to investigate what had happened. They found the young teen confused and in a little bit of a panic.
What they found was a young woman, who’d just learned to drive, struggling to restart her manual vehicle
Image credits: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office- OK
“We came across a stranded vehicle, and wondered what was going on with it. Made contact with this young female, brand new driver of a standard, didn’t know what she was doing,” Kendrae said in a post shared by the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office. “I asked her if I could help assist her. So I kinda went through the steps of helping her out.”
“You want me to talk you through it? I can do that,” Kendrae can be heard saying in his partner’s bodycam footage. Shining his flashlight through the window, he instructed the young woman on the steps she needed to take to get the car going again. Once she was moving, they went to an empty parking lot for more practice.
Kendrae offered to help the woman out by going through each step of the process, as she “didn’t know what she was doing”
Image credits: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office- OK
Soon, the girl was driving her stick shift with confidence, all thanks to this patient and caring officer going out of his way to teach her. “Once we were in an empty parking lot, I helped her step-by-step understand how to drive a manual transmission,” he said.
“The citizens of Cleveland County allow us to serve them and so I think that’s a very important part, not only for the sheriff’s office, but individually for myself,” Kendrae explained.
The footage was later shared on Facebook by the Sheriff’s Department, and many came to thank Kendrae for being a wonderful public servant. “That man deserves a raise. We need more policemen like him,” one person commented. “My GUY!!! Always helping out,” another said.
“Once we were in an empty parking lot, I helped her step-by-step understand how to drive a manual transmission,” Kendrae said
Image credits: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office- OK
A car “stalling” describes the sudden loss of power to the vehicle’s operating systems. It can happen for several reasons, some of which are mechanical, while others are of an electrical nature. As stated on Ace Able, if you forget to engage the clutch or switch into the neutral gear when stopping, you can cause the engine to stall.
As described on Car Treatments, if your car were to stall while driving, the first order of business is to remain calm. It’s incredibly easy to panic and feel pressured to take quick action, but that may cause more harm than good. Put on your hazard lights, slowly break to a stop, and breathe.
Try to restart your car. In most cases, the car will restart without issue after stalling; however, at other times, a vehicle may crank to no avail. If you can’t restart it, call an auto mechanic or a friend with jumper cables for help.
Soon the woman was starting and driving her car with confidence, all thanks to this patient deputy
Image credits: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office- OK
An interesting point of discussion here—panic. Not at the disco, but at the wheel. It can creep up regardless of whether you’re driving an automatic or manual car.
Driving a car is inherently stressful, with many people tensing up at points during their journey, but, with practice, it becomes so natural that they may not even realize they’re doing it. Combine that with the natural feeling of being unable to escape if something goes wrong, and it’s no wonder so many people have panic attacks while driving.
Calm Clinic suggests fighting anxiety and panic attacks by using distractions—give yourself something to listen to so that you can get out of your own head—and by controlling your breathing. Stress can cause your breathing to quicken, which can lead to hyperventilation and panic attacks, so practice timed breathing exercises.
Image credits: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office- OK
Most importantly—keep driving. Those that can still drive should strongly consider facing their fear. The more you fear driving with panic attacks and avoid doing so because of them, the more likely you are to have a panic attack in the future when you do hit the road. The more exposure to driving you have, the more comfortable you will get with it.
Although, as stated on House Grail, only about 13% of the cars sold in the US offer manual transmission—with people finding automatic transmissions cars easier to understand and a lot more comfortable—manual cars tend to be at least $800-$1,000 cheaper than their automatic twins and, usually, a 10-year-old manual is more efficient than a 10-year-old automatic. Pros and cons to be considered.
“The citizens of Cleveland County allow us to serve them,” Kendrae explained, stating that it means a lot to him as an individual
Image credits: Kendrae Traylor
Whether you’re learning to drive an automatic or manual vehicle (most recommend learning this one), remember: practice makes perfect. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and stay calm when help approaches you.
We hope the young lady will never forget this little lesson and that Deputy Kendrae gets all the praise he deserves.
You can watch the full video here
Let us know your thoughts on this little act of kindness in the comments below! Don’t forget to upvote and follow the author as it makes their day better, and I wish you a good one!
People loved this great example of “protect and serve,” praising Kendrae for his kind actions. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Why is she driving a manual car if she doesn't know how it works? This implies that she was driving alone and had therefore passed her driving test. I don't understand this at all. If you really struggle with a gear lever in the UK you can get an automatic-only licence. Confused by this one, unless driving tests in the US are not rigorous.
It doesn't say her age, just that she was young, which is subjective, she could be in her 30's. My MIL learned to drive manual. She got gifted an automatic car, it lasted her 15 years, she bought a manual, gave it back because she didn't know how to drive it.
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Why is she driving a manual car if she doesn't know how it works? This implies that she was driving alone and had therefore passed her driving test. I don't understand this at all. If you really struggle with a gear lever in the UK you can get an automatic-only licence. Confused by this one, unless driving tests in the US are not rigorous.
It doesn't say her age, just that she was young, which is subjective, she could be in her 30's. My MIL learned to drive manual. She got gifted an automatic car, it lasted her 15 years, she bought a manual, gave it back because she didn't know how to drive it.
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