89-Year-Old Veteran Aims to Make Roads Safer in NH

An 89-year-old New Hampshire resident and veteran upset over speeding drivers is taking matters into his own hands. 

Police say the unique approach is legal but they don’t necessarily agree with it. 

When something seems to be wrong in the world, Portsmouth resident Harold Whitehouse has never hesitated to step in. 

"By the time I was 23, I was discharged and I was a veteran of two wars," he said Friday. "Imagine that?" 

Whitehouse says he’s continuing his service today – this time behind the wheel. 

"The speed limit is 20 miles an hour, and I’m doing 20 miles an hour," Whitehouse said. 

He just got his license renewed and is not taking on speeding drivers in his hometown of Portsmouth. 

"Unbelievable, everybody is in a hurry, I don’t know where they’re all going,"he said. 

Whitehouse has dubbed his 14-year-old Subaru Legacy the city’s own "pace car" and even picked up his custom-made bumper stickers Friday afternoon. 

"They’re beautiful," he told the manager at Infinite Imagine in Portsmouth. 

Whitehouse says he does exactly the speed limit on the busiest roads and not everyone is happy about it.

"They want to see what’s in my trunk and then when they get the chance to pass me they say I’m number one," he said chuckling, "I say, 'thank you very much,' and I usually throw them a kiss." 

Police say everything Whitehouse is doing is perfectly legal, but the Chief doesn’t necessarily support the efforts. 

"I appreciate and I get what Harold is doing but leave policing for the police," said Chief Robert Merner.

Whitehouse says he respectfully disagrees. 

"I don’t call this policing, I just call it serving a community with a benefit," he told NBC Boston. 

This veteran with community service in his veins says he’s just finding yet another way to protect his fellow Americans. 

"It’s just kind of scary what could happen," Whitehouse said. "You’ve got to be careful." 

Police say they’ve got the speeding problem under control and they’re cracking down. 

In fact, they’ve issued more violations this year than in the past five years combined. 

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