Gas prices drive good Samaritan off the road

With fuel gauge on E, do-gooder cuts back on highway rescues

By Elizabeth Douglass | Tribune Newspapers

July 25, 2008

SAN DIEGO — Christin Ernst was in a fix. An errant screwdriver punctured her tire on a San Diego freeway, leaving her stranded.

That's when Thomas Weller—aka the San Diego Highwayman—arrived in his monstrous white search-and-rescue vehicle. A surprised Ernst watched as Weller slapped on her spare, inflated it and handed her a card.

"Assisting you has been my pleasure," it reads. "I ask for no payment other than for you to pass on the favor by helping someone in distress that you may encounter." Ernst assured Weller, "I will pass it on."

She was lucky. Because of wallet-busting fuel prices, Weller has cut back his Good Samaritan runs to once every three days. Weighing more than 5,600 pounds, Weller's aging rescue rig is a world-class gas-guzzler.

"I sit home on the front porch a lot," he said. "It's killing me."

For a while, Weller had a benefactor. An Auto Trader executive saw a television report about his heroics and arranged to pay his fuel bills from April 2002 until budget cutbacks ended the deal.

"The best time of my career of doing this was the 17 months that I didn't have to worry about the expense," Weller said.

He started his volunteer highway rounds in 1966. Now 60, Weller figures he's helped more than 6,000 motorists.

He estimates his modified 1955 Ford station wagon has gone 600,000 miles—the odometer broke 10 years ago.

The California Highway Patrol doesn't condone Weller's highway hobby.

"It's obviously very dangerous," CHP spokesman Brad Baehr said. "But this is a guy who does this on his own, with his heart in the right place." Weller said he stays out of the way of the pros.

Los Angeles Times