Grandma slows down speeding drivers by pretending hair dryer is radar gun

While not every hero may wear a cape, they all need a weapon. Thor has his hammer, Iron Man has his suit and Patti Baumgartner from Montana has her hairdryer. Admittedly, two of those can do significantly more damage than the other, but that’s not to say that they aren’t equally indispensable aspects of their wielder’s character. 

Though it might seem a stretch to mention a woman from rural America in the same breath as the God of Thunder, Baumgartner has managed to make headlines all over the world after deciding to go rogue in the pursuit of justice. Armed only with her dryer and a cup of coffee, she is engaged in protracted psychological warfare with local motorists, the likes of which would make Loki proud. 

Check out this shocking footage showing a mother lose Texas cops on a high speed chase and attempt carjack while carrying a baby:

After becoming increasingly irritated with irresponsible drivers speeding down her road, Baumgartner had had enough. Realising that police resources were stretched, she decided that the only option was to con the offenders. Using her hairdryer as a fake speed camera, she has taken to executing a silent vigil along the side of the road, pretending to track cars as they pass. 

As Baumgartner explained in an interview with broadcasters KRTV:

“(the cars) forget to slow down and there are lots of people that are complaining about that, they can’t walk or ride their bikes. I wouldn’t even attempt riding my around. 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 crusade caught the attention of local trooper, Noah Pesola. Instead of arresting her for impersonating a police officer, he embraced the idea, saying:

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 even awarded Baumgartner with an honourary title, adding:

“It’s not an official or anything like that for the honorary trooper, which is kind of what I called it. 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’ benefits. The best thing I could think of was give her a trooper hat and a badge to make her look a little more official.”

Iron Man may be no more, but at least Montanans can sleep slightly easier in their beds tonight.