A state trooper intentionally hit a wrong-way driver on I-10 last week, and today DPS is finally speaking out about the head-on collision that potentially saved lives.
The trooper's name is Christopher Navar. He had minor injuries and was released from the hospital the same day. Navar says when all is said and done, he's fortunate to have gone through something like this, because if he has a similar situation like this again he'll have experience to lean on.
"Going head-on with someone like that, its scary," said Christopher Navar, DPS Trooper.
Last week Navar was helping a stranded driver, when he heard of a wrong-way vehicle in his area. The wrong-way driver was going eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-10 near Cortaro Road. Navar responded to the call and found a confused woman still driving the wrong way on the highway.
That's when his training kicked in.
"We were we both approached each other simultaneously. So during that split second decision and since traffic was heavy, there were vehicles behind me, I decided to ram the vehicle," said Navar.
He doesn't recall how exactly fast he was going, but he thinks it was between 40-50 mph during the collision.
"When I saw it, I didn't freeze, I just said, 'Oh crap, here it comes. I have to do something.' And um - sorry for getting emotional but um - I made the right decision. So I'm just happy to be alive," said Navar.
DPS troopers go through P.I.T. Training, where they learn how to correctly hit a vehicle to stop it. But nothing, Navar says, prepared him for stopping a moving car with a head-on collision.
"Its dangerous but you have to make that split second decision of when you get that right timing. When we were both going over the overpass and we just see each other like this. I was in the fast lane, the vehicle I saw was in the median lane. It just so happened that I hit it right in the area where I wanted to hit it," said Navar.
DPS said the woman was driving the wrong way because she was confused. She had minor injuries from the crash.
