Response to Road Rage...
05-10-2011, 06:27 AM
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Last week, I was out of town, and yesterday my wife tells me about a road rage incident she experienced.
Let me first start out by saying that my wife doesn't take $hit from anyone, and I think, she probably uses her horn too much when someone else cuts her off etc...
Anyway, 20-something guy in a Dodge Truck doesn't stop at a stop sign, and cuts my wife off on a stretch of road that was 55mph. She said she blew her horn at the guy, and he started slowing down, and came to a full stop in the middle of the road. Unbuckled his seat belt, got out of the truck, and started walking back towards her vehicle, with the WTF? look on his face, and his hands in the air. He was fully behing his truck still coming towards her vehicle when she made the decision to pull around him, flip him off, and keep driving, as she had our 18mn old son in the car with her.
I guess my question is, what would you do in that situation?
Let me first start out by saying that my wife doesn't take $hit from anyone, and I think, she probably uses her horn too much when someone else cuts her off etc...
Anyway, 20-something guy in a Dodge Truck doesn't stop at a stop sign, and cuts my wife off on a stretch of road that was 55mph. She said she blew her horn at the guy, and he started slowing down, and came to a full stop in the middle of the road. Unbuckled his seat belt, got out of the truck, and started walking back towards her vehicle, with the WTF? look on his face, and his hands in the air. He was fully behing his truck still coming towards her vehicle when she made the decision to pull around him, flip him off, and keep driving, as she had our 18mn old son in the car with her.
I guess my question is, what would you do in that situation?
05-10-2011, 07:46 AM
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Step 1: Take a pic of the plate and call 911 - road rage is illegal in most states now and he's obviously a coward anyway going after a woman and a baby.
Step 2: Well, something similar happened to my wife once. She was driving along and there was construction in her lane, she got over but I guess the guy behind her thought she cut him off, because he blocks her in slams on his brakes, gets out and walks over and punched her window, didn;t break it. Then he casually walked back to his car still talking shit. Now, my wife is 5' tall, very little lady. When she called me and told me this I immediately jumped in my car and spent just about the rest of the afternoon hunting for this fool - I am a little bigger than my wife
I was merely going to try to calm him down by repeatedly resting his face on my knee 
Step 2: Well, something similar happened to my wife once. She was driving along and there was construction in her lane, she got over but I guess the guy behind her thought she cut him off, because he blocks her in slams on his brakes, gets out and walks over and punched her window, didn;t break it. Then he casually walked back to his car still talking shit. Now, my wife is 5' tall, very little lady. When she called me and told me this I immediately jumped in my car and spent just about the rest of the afternoon hunting for this fool - I am a little bigger than my wife
I was merely going to try to calm him down by repeatedly resting his face on my knee
05-10-2011, 07:55 AM
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Oh man, I was livid when she told me about it.
Not at her, but at the fact that it wasn't me.
In my opinion, there is absolutely NO reason to get out of your car in the middle of the road. If you do, you are opening yourself to me pleading self defense for whatever comes next.
Not at her, but at the fact that it wasn't me.
In my opinion, there is absolutely NO reason to get out of your car in the middle of the road. If you do, you are opening yourself to me pleading self defense for whatever comes next.
05-10-2011, 08:00 AM
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Oh man, I was livid when she told me about it.
Not at her, but at the fact that it wasn't me.
In my opinion, there is absolutely NO reason to get out of your car in the middle of the road. If you do, you are opening yourself to me pleading self defense for whatever comes next.
Not at her, but at the fact that it wasn't me.
In my opinion, there is absolutely NO reason to get out of your car in the middle of the road. If you do, you are opening yourself to me pleading self defense for whatever comes next.
05-10-2011, 10:10 AM
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You know, It's assholes like that that make me want to get my Carry and Conceal license. It's not that I want to have to use a gun, it's that I don't want to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. 
I had one person do something similar to me years ago. Dude was riding my a$$. Too close. :thumbsdown: So, being young and cocky, I tapped the brakes a couple times to get him to back off. The dude instead whipped around me with his big truck, cut my GF and I off and slammed on the brakes, blocking me in. When we came to an abrupt stop, he hopped out and started towards my car. In that split second, I didn't know what he was going to do. And it was dark out, so I couldn't see if he was holding anything.
Luckily there was an 53' big-rig truck and trailer screeching to a halt behind me. The driver laid on the horn and the douche bag got spooked and hopped back in his big ass truck and sped off. What a dumb a$$. I would bet you anything the dude was on something, or maybe had been drinking.
You never know about people these days.
I had one person do something similar to me years ago. Dude was riding my a$$. Too close. :thumbsdown: So, being young and cocky, I tapped the brakes a couple times to get him to back off. The dude instead whipped around me with his big truck, cut my GF and I off and slammed on the brakes, blocking me in. When we came to an abrupt stop, he hopped out and started towards my car. In that split second, I didn't know what he was going to do. And it was dark out, so I couldn't see if he was holding anything.
Luckily there was an 53' big-rig truck and trailer screeching to a halt behind me. The driver laid on the horn and the douche bag got spooked and hopped back in his big ass truck and sped off. What a dumb a$$. I would bet you anything the dude was on something, or maybe had been drinking.
You never know about people these days.
05-10-2011, 10:50 AM
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Well, that's exactly my point...
I believe she did the right thing by driving away, but that got me to thinking...
I have a pistol permit, and in NY, not NYC, it's a carry permit.
Two things I was considering as a Monday morning quarterback in the situation were,
How far does a road rager need to go to make it reasonable to brandish a legal weapon in response? I think in NYS they call it menacing if you show your weapon and it is not a life threatening situation.
When would it be considered self defense if you rammed the guy with your car and pinned him against his own?
Does the guy need to be carrying a weapon himself? Does he need to smash your window to put you in the right? In my opinion, as I posted above, as soon as someone exits their vehicle in the middle of the road, it's open season. There's no reason to to it unless you are looking to cause injury to the other party.
I believe she did the right thing by driving away, but that got me to thinking...
I have a pistol permit, and in NY, not NYC, it's a carry permit.
Two things I was considering as a Monday morning quarterback in the situation were,
How far does a road rager need to go to make it reasonable to brandish a legal weapon in response? I think in NYS they call it menacing if you show your weapon and it is not a life threatening situation.
When would it be considered self defense if you rammed the guy with your car and pinned him against his own?
Does the guy need to be carrying a weapon himself? Does he need to smash your window to put you in the right? In my opinion, as I posted above, as soon as someone exits their vehicle in the middle of the road, it's open season. There's no reason to to it unless you are looking to cause injury to the other party.
05-10-2011, 11:06 AM
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Meh, I actually think it's really silly and dangerous what she did. Just playing the devil's advocate here, but what if the next time she rages on somebody for disobeying the law, that person takes it one step further?
Say she's behind the person, and pulls up to a stop light. The person gets out of the car, and obviously your wife has nowhere to go since she'll be behind that vehicle. Let's say the person doesn't have a gun, but a bat. This scenario can be potentially health hazardous, or heck, the person could just beat up the car and all she can do is watch in horror (for fear of physical harm). I mean, the person could just punch and kick your wife's vehicle if s/he is crazy enough.
The scenario can be much worse, but I would think it's best to just avoid those people, and just call and report it. There really is no winning by trying to police others.
Say she's behind the person, and pulls up to a stop light. The person gets out of the car, and obviously your wife has nowhere to go since she'll be behind that vehicle. Let's say the person doesn't have a gun, but a bat. This scenario can be potentially health hazardous, or heck, the person could just beat up the car and all she can do is watch in horror (for fear of physical harm). I mean, the person could just punch and kick your wife's vehicle if s/he is crazy enough.
The scenario can be much worse, but I would think it's best to just avoid those people, and just call and report it. There really is no winning by trying to police others.
05-10-2011, 11:08 AM
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Well, that's exactly my point...
I believe she did the right thing by driving away, but that got me to thinking...
I have a pistol permit, and in NY, not NYC, it's a carry permit.
Two things I was considering as a Monday morning quarterback in the situation were,
How far does a road rager need to go to make it reasonable to brandish a legal weapon in response? I think in NYS they call it menacing if you show your weapon and it is not a life threatening situation.
When would it be considered self defense if you rammed the guy with your car and pinned him against his own?
Does the guy need to be carrying a weapon himself? Does he need to smash your window to put you in the right? In my opinion, as I posted above, as soon as someone exits their vehicle in the middle of the road, it's open season. There's no reason to to it unless you are looking to cause injury to the other party.
I believe she did the right thing by driving away, but that got me to thinking...
I have a pistol permit, and in NY, not NYC, it's a carry permit.
Two things I was considering as a Monday morning quarterback in the situation were,
How far does a road rager need to go to make it reasonable to brandish a legal weapon in response? I think in NYS they call it menacing if you show your weapon and it is not a life threatening situation.
When would it be considered self defense if you rammed the guy with your car and pinned him against his own?
Does the guy need to be carrying a weapon himself? Does he need to smash your window to put you in the right? In my opinion, as I posted above, as soon as someone exits their vehicle in the middle of the road, it's open season. There's no reason to to it unless you are looking to cause injury to the other party.
Typically, guns cause more problems than they solve in those situations, especially for someone not trained with weapons in a stressful situation.
05-10-2011, 01:06 PM
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I don't think I'd go so far as to use a weapon unless in a self-defense scenario (using your car is using a weapon). I would beat the hell out of him, but using only equal force (my hands to his) unless he uses a weapon. Women, of course, don't have this option. However, a can of mace for your wife to keep in the car is perfectly reasonable in my opinion.
Typically, guns cause more problems than they solve in those situations, especially for someone not trained with weapons in a stressful situation.
Typically, guns cause more problems than they solve in those situations, especially for someone not trained with weapons in a stressful situation.
Gun only causes problems. Like if he had one too. My cousin is a cop and he had to get sprayed at the academy. Me and my brother volunteer to get sprayed.
05-10-2011, 06:35 PM
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she did the right thing by driving away. She should probably brush off morons rather than antagonize them, especially with the kid in the car. I tend to get a little crazy out there sometimes, as some of the regulars circa early 2009 can attest to, and I have only once gotten out of my car, which turned out to be a mistake that ended up involving a fight, police, etc. I wasnt willing to hit a old man, but he was sure willing to take some swings at me, which i of course dodged. I than antagonized him by taking pictures of him which ended up right here on this very forum.
I am a hot-headed 28 year old. I am 6'2" and 230 lbs, and spend an awful lot of time in the gym and eat a medium sized mammals weight in protein a day. I am full of pent up testosterone and like to blame it on things like post traumatic stress disorder and a rough childhood. I am the guy who will dump crap all over your car when you park like an a-hole (did it to a G37 on monday), I am the guy who will box you in when you drive like an a-hole, I am the guy who has no problem saying some crazy shit to you at a red light, stuff that would make jesus cry. I am single, I am losing my job, I am slightly unstable, and have nothing to lose... that said, I would NEVER actually start a physical fight with someone, especially a woman. That is just outrageous to me. The guy probably got out of the car (like an idiot) to intimidate your wife, but wouldnt actually do anything to harm her- i think those instances are extremely rare. I dont know if brandishing a weapon would be in anyones best interest in this scenario. Rule is, you NEVER EVER EVER use a weapon to gain leverage in a conversation/argument/fight. This is like day one CCW stuff. If you do, you are going to be arrested. If you pull that thing out, you damn well better be ready to use it.
Driving away is definitely the best thing to do in this instance, aside from throwing a smoothie at him.
As a disclaimer: Road rage is illegal in most states as john noted. With that said, everything in this post about me is a lie.
I am a hot-headed 28 year old. I am 6'2" and 230 lbs, and spend an awful lot of time in the gym and eat a medium sized mammals weight in protein a day. I am full of pent up testosterone and like to blame it on things like post traumatic stress disorder and a rough childhood. I am the guy who will dump crap all over your car when you park like an a-hole (did it to a G37 on monday), I am the guy who will box you in when you drive like an a-hole, I am the guy who has no problem saying some crazy shit to you at a red light, stuff that would make jesus cry. I am single, I am losing my job, I am slightly unstable, and have nothing to lose... that said, I would NEVER actually start a physical fight with someone, especially a woman. That is just outrageous to me. The guy probably got out of the car (like an idiot) to intimidate your wife, but wouldnt actually do anything to harm her- i think those instances are extremely rare. I dont know if brandishing a weapon would be in anyones best interest in this scenario. Rule is, you NEVER EVER EVER use a weapon to gain leverage in a conversation/argument/fight. This is like day one CCW stuff. If you do, you are going to be arrested. If you pull that thing out, you damn well better be ready to use it.
Driving away is definitely the best thing to do in this instance, aside from throwing a smoothie at him.
As a disclaimer: Road rage is illegal in most states as john noted. With that said, everything in this post about me is a lie.