The open road can be freeing.
Reddit user, rosetrail, wanted to know what you may or may not have seen on the open, dark road when they asked:
"What is the creepiest experience you’ve ever had while driving late at night/very early in the morning?"
You Can Trust Us....
"Was driving through Arizona a night and a black yukon with police lights tailgated us. My wife said to not pull over as it doesnt look like a police a car. It followed us for 4 minutes then pulled away. I almost fell for it"
ragingbull955
Wanting To Come For The Ride
"An owl hit the side of my car while I was driving on a State Highway. Left a big dust mark on the side of the car. Freaked me and my then girlfriend out pretty badly. We pulled over and then drove back to see if it was dead by the side of the road. It wasn't."
civillyengineerd
Here To Help
"Driving back from visiting my boyfriend at his college. The drive took about 3 hours by expressway in rural area. It was was late and very dark out. All of the sudden the wheel starts shaking really bad and I have to pulled over. Luckily there was a rest stop exit right there and I was able to pull off the expressway."
"My friend was with me and she is pretty drunk and no help. I get out to see what happened and see my tire is very low. Please note this was years ago, cell phones were a thing, but good service wasn’t…"
"I open the trunk to get out the jack and spare tire. Two guys come over to help. Mind you it is the middle of the night at a rural rest stop so I’m a little cautious but can use the help. I can and have changed a tire but it’s not easy and takes me longer than I care to admit."
"So I let the guys help but it quickly became apparent they have no idea what they are doing! As I’m trying to get rid of these two my buzzed friend gets out of the car and starts trying to chat them up, UGH."
"It takes a a couple tries but I get her back in the car all while trying to get these guys to leave. I’m starting to get really uncomfortable and nervous when out of the corner of my eye I see a car pull out from a dark corner of the parking lot. Two other guys pull up and before they even got out of the car the first two hurried to their car and left."
"The new guys quickly changed my tire. None of us said a word while they changed it. I said thank you and both gave me a nod and just left."
"No clue who those fellows were, how long they sat in the shadows watching, but after 20+ years I think of them often and wish them well."
Happy-N-U-knowIT
Is there anything more terrifying than a man jumping out at you from the darkness?
No?
What if he had a weapon?
Save A Life
"Not me but my brother. Driving home from out of town with wife and three kids in the back. Going 100 down the highway both him and his wife see a man on the side of the road."
"He wasn’t trying to hitch hike and wasn’t really paying attention to the cars. They only saw him for a second but he kinda looked like he was stumbling. They’re at least 5k from the last town so they figure he’s in trouble."
"They want to turn around to see if he’s ok but on the highway you can’t just do that anywhere. By the time they find a turn off and make it back to the spot it’s at least 15 minutes later."
"They don’t see anything so the call the local police and explain the situation. My brother and the officer look around a bit but there’s not much you can do."
"This is the middle of the prairies, there’s lots of open land and they’re not 100% sure exactly where they saw the guy. The officer says he’ll call some more guys and look around a bit more but for my brother to go home and get his kids to bed."
"The next morning he got a call from the officer. They found the guy in a diabetic coma and were able to get him to a hospital. He had some beers at the town they passed and just wandered off. My brother definitely saved his life."
discostud1515
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"So the summer after I graduated I worked at a state park as a temporary worker. My shift was 8pm to 4am with one of the rangers."
"One night, we were driving down to one of the boat launches when a man jumps out of the bush right in front of us. He was dressed only in his tighty whities, waving a stick like a sword at the truck."
"The ranger opened the door and leaned out, asking, 'Sir, do you need some help?' To which he screamed, 'No!' And ran into the woods again. Saw a lot of weird sh-t at that job."
MasterCheifn
Never Stop. Keep Going.
"When I was 18/19, my best friend, her sister, and I were driving home late after a night out. It was raining hard and made it extremely difficult to see on the highway."
"We stopped under an overpass to see if the weather would lighten up a bit. I turned to look out the window (front seat passenger) to find someone in a hoodie charging at the vehicle. Immediately gogogogogogogogo!!!"
"We sped off into the night and made it home safely. I have never stopped under an overpass again and I am almost 40."
chibipixie
The world is a big place and you never know what you're going to see what's out there unless you stop to...
call the police on Gandalf?
Fly, You Fools!
"Not creepy really, more funny/weird. At night driving westbound across the I-90 bridge to Seattle, in the headlights I saw a man in the road just barely off the shoulder, on the wrong side of the pedestrian barrier, walking opposite to the traffic."
"He was very tall with long white hair, a long white beard, a billowing white robe, and I swear to God-- a long wooden staff. He was striding with some damn purpose. But obviously out of place and at great risk."
"So I called 911 and when they asked for a description all I could think was to tell them to look for Gandalf the White Wizard. Later the dispatcher called me back to tell me he sent out a BOLO for Gandalf and the responding officer reported my description was perfect."
Seattle_gldr_rdr
Take A Rest
"My husband and I were on an emergency trip out to MS to help get my mom into a nursing home."
"I don’t have a license to drive a car, so he had to drive the whole way."
"About 3 am, we get to this stretch of road that is, as far as I could tell, a straight road with inlaid fields on both sides. All well and good, but in the pitch black, with no streetlights, at 3 am it was super unnerving."
"I noticed my husband…idk…not acting quite right? Like…, he was breathing differently, and his posture was a little different, little stuff but you notice when you’re married. I was like “honey do you need to take a break?” And he goes “oh, no I’m fine. Let’s just finish this strip and we can find a hotel”. I trusted his judgement and we made it across and hit the hay at a Days Inn somewhere."
"The next morning, we wake up and are brushing our teeth and I comment on how creepy that stretch of road was. He gets quiet and goes “….I honestly thought I dreamt that. I remember it not feeling real and me feeling like it was a dream”."
"I told him I’d asked him if he needed a break and he was like “yeah I remember that too, and I thought I dreamt it. do me a favor, and I’ll return it if the need arises, if I ever tell you I’m fine and don’t need a break after driving for 4 hours in pitch darkness again? Don’t take no for an answer. I was so out of it I didn’t realize I was that gone.”
"So we now have a standing agreement to stop each other well before then, but the idea that he was fully dissociated in that moment and had less than a healthy grasp on reality always makes me shiver. I hate to imagine all the moments that could have gone wrong."
"Remember, exhausted driving is just as bad as drunk driving."
kharmatika
TW: Domestic Abuse
"I saw a car that was pulled over. The passenger side door was open. A man was beating his partner. Called 911, gave the vehicle description and a partial plate."
"I'm still scared I made the abuse worse."
"Edit: To the domestic abuse survivors in the comments, thank you for letting me know I probably helped the victim."
"I sincerely hope that all of you are in a safe place and have a good life. Domestic abuse is awful, and I cannot imagine the kind of pain you went through. I'm sure you've heard this before a thousand times, but you are brave and strong. I sincerely wish everything wonderful and beautiful for you."
nergigante-is-best
Be safe out there on the road. An old wizarding man might come for you.
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