Story credit: www.ktvq.com

BILLINGS — A central Montana woman is warning others to stay alert on rural highways after she says she was followed for miles and nearly run off the road during a frightening drive home Friday night.

Lizette Lamb said what began as a routine trip along Highway 191 quickly turned into what she described as a fight for her life.

“For 50-something miles, I pretty much fought for my life in a vehicle,” Lamb said.

Lamb was driving from Roundup to Glasgow when she stopped at a gas station in Grass Range around 7 p.m. While there, she noticed a newer white pickup truck with tinted windows parked nearby. The truck did not have a front license plate, and she made a note of the vehicle’s presence.

A short time after getting back on the road, Lamb said she noticed the same pickup behind her.

"I noticed that they were pulling too close to me, to my bumper, and at that moment, I just felt very uneasy," she said. "But I was like, 'OK, maybe they're just trying to go around me.'”

Instead, she said the truck began following closely, regardless of how her speed changed.

"I finally noticed that I was going probably 80, 85 miles an hour, which that was insane for me. I was like, 'Oh, my goodness, like, I'm going really fast, and they're almost tailgating me," said Lamb. “At that moment, I was like, my life is in danger."

Lamb said the situation escalated near a hill, where the driver of the pickup attempted to force her off the road. There, she noticed there were two males in the car.

“I realized they kind of almost went to the side of my driver side and trying to force me off the road," she said.

Lamb said she was unable to call 911 because of limited cell service in the area. At that point, she said she made a split-second decision.

“That's when I showed them pretty much that I had a gun," said Lamb. "They made a fast U-turn, and they turned the other way, and they took off.”

She believes that action may have saved her life.

“That's when all that became to me a reality, like it's something I think today, this moment, I might end up having to use my gun because it's my life. It's either them or me, and I choose me," she said, becoming emotional. "Just being in that moment, I hope nobody has to go through that because it really kind of just put a lot of things in perspective.”

After the encounter, Lamb contacted her husband, Travis Lamb, who reported the incident to the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office. Dispatchers confirmed the report with MTN, and Travis Lamb said that they informed him of receiving similar calls in the past.

Due to the rural nature of the area, response times can be lengthy. Travis Lamb said deputies were dispatched, but family members reached her before law enforcement arrived.

"That's not disparaging the Phillips County Sheriff's Office at all," he said. "That's the reality of where we live."

The full story and video with Travis and Lizette Lamb can be found at www.ktvq.com