On Friday, a tourist from Washington, District of Columbia was traveling through rural West Virginia when the battery in his electric vehicle died in the middle of the road. The unfortunate traveler was able to be rescued from his precarious situation thanks to the presence of a few random but selfless Samaritans in the area.
According to WTRF, a wild chain of events was recounted on Facebook by Tucker County State Sen. Randy Smith (R), which took place near a coal mine on the Mettiki Coal access road U.S. 48, a few miles outside of Davis, West Virginia.
“Today at our mine off Corridor H an electric car from DC ran out of battery at the road entrance to the mine,” Smith wrote.
The state senator pointed out that the vehicle had broken down in the middle of the haul road, which meant that the workers had to move quickly in order to avoid obstructing the flow of incoming traffic.
It was soon realized that the vehicle could not be moved by a tow truck because the bottom of the car was made entirely of plastic and there was nothing to hook onto. This became apparent as a few coal miners came to assist.
Due to the limited choices that were available, the coal miners collaborated with the driver to push the vehicle up the road to the mine so that the traveler could recharge his vehicle there.
“If you look closely you can see our coal stockpile and load out in the background,” Smith noted as the five coal miners and driver are seen pushing the vehicle in a photo.
Electric vehicles have recently come to represent an elitist shift away from natural energy resources such as coal, natural gas, and oil toward renewable energy sources. However, on Friday, this narrative was cast aside as the coal miners were more than willing to assist the stranded traveler.
“This just shows you coal miners are good people and will go out of their way to help anyone friend or foe,” said Smith. “I’m honestly glad they ended up where they could get some help because they couldn’t get a tow truck to come and this is out in the middle of nowhere.”
Smith went on to say that one of the good Samaritans even presented the driver from Washington, DC with a “Friend of Coal” license plate for him to take with him when he went home.
