| Author | Message | ||
     Bads1 |
I'd never put my family in that situation. Anything could have happened. He could of pulled a gun and you could of got shot infront of your family. There fore your wife could explain to your child what her Daddy did. You should of just let it go. Sorry Rick I understand your feelings but its not worth it at all. You could of ran into the wrong guy,wrong time,wrong place. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Your way outa line with wife and munchkin with ya. Besides what if that a hole actually had a gun and put a few holes in ya. How would that help your family. Maybe you died because he was wrong. So what is your 5 month old gonna think of that? Nothing just call some one else daddy. What if he called the cops, YOU were in the wrong and probably would have been arrested on road rage charges. You were the aggressor and he was defending himself. My favorite trick for such occasions is to get his name and address and enter him in every drawing at the home shows, Fairs and even sign him up for his free copy of the book of Mormon......They will never leave him alone. It is easy to do. get the avery address stickers, add jack asses name address and phone number. Sit back and enjoy the knowledge he is gonna get tons of phone calls and door knocks. | ||
| Rick_a |
Get real. His driving made him the aggressor. Brake checking is an offense that falls under Careless Driving and usually nets a hefty fine and a court visit. He had decided to put us in jeopardy by nearly wrecking us with his car. I confronted him accordingly. I moved to the street, not his property. If he wanted to fight he'd have to leave his property and meet me on the street, showing active aggression on his part. I was only there to lecture him, and only escalate force as the situation dictates. What ensued was left entirely to him. Defense is justified only when one rightly fears death or serious bodily harm. I doubt my words cut that deep. He came at me with a weapon(?). I only acted in response to his threats towards me, so I really don't see where most of you are coming from. You could "if", "and," and "what if" it all day but there are three choices he could've made. Be a man and admit a mistake (is an apology so unreasonable a request?), stand and fight, or cower away. I was fully prepared for any scenario. He did the latter. Anyone who chooses to use their vehicle as a weapon for any reason is a coward to begin with. Cowards like to make threats, the brave just take action. Being a small statured guy I've dealt with bullies all my life. This guy was just a middle aged bully...and no different than any other. If I was riding by myself I would've laughed at him and just wheelied past his driver's side so he could get a good, deafening earful and flicked him off. Nothing wrong with expressing my feelings regarding his driving. I prefer dealing with problems at the source. I did not take the passive route. If I turn the other cheek it's so you can kiss the other side of my ass. It's a shame that we live in a society where the popular opinion is to simply raise our arms and admit defeat when faced with aggression.
Consider just the reaction time required to make an unexpected braking maneuver in traffic when the car in front of you locks the brakes. Avoiding a collision is hard even with the proper distance.
Maybe not but grandma was probably sure embarrassed at being lectured in front of the grand kids. What I did was no different except for following "grandpa" a couple blocks to his residence. I'm a pretty quiet mellow guy. My only madness generally happens on two wheels. Things like this, however, I simply can't ignore. | ||
| Dbird29 |
It's like riding your bike, you can be dead right. Just enjoy like and leave the confrontation for video games. | ||
| Luvthemtorts |
In the event of a collision you call it brake checking, he calls it locking em' up to miss a cat. Who would the officer believe, the one who smashed into the back of the guys vehicle for following too close or the "poor" guy who got rear ended? You can't win em' all and from your profile photo, personal quote and the fact that you admit to riding WELL over 100MPH alone and with a passenger suggests perhaps you may be a bit of an aggressive motorist yourself. | ||
| Phatkidwit1eye |
It's a shame that we live in a society where the popular opinion is to simply raise our arms and admit defeat when faced with aggression. That's untrue and you know it. I think you need to take your cape off and really think about the situation. No matter how you slice it YOU escalated the situation. Sure the guy was an •••••••, but you were unharmed and able to go on your way. Now the guy knows what color car you drive, the way you come home from work and your plate number. If he was so inclined, (and had your type of mentality) he could mess with you all he wanted. He now has the ability to pick and choose his battle. Maybe next time you wont be there to get brake checked, maybe it might be your wife and daughter just out and about. The type of people who will pick a fight are the type of people who will only do it b/c they have an Ace up their sleeve; be it their size, friends, or a weapon. This guy's Ace was that by brake checking you the chance of proving him at fault is pretty slim and you end up with the accident being on you. No one said there was anything wrong with fighting when you have to, it's how you pick and choose your battles that needs some fixing. It wasn't too long ago that I felt like I had something to prove. I learned the above lesson the hard way. One minute I was fighting one guy who threw a beer at my truck and the next I was literally getting stomped on by 7 of the guy's friends who were out of site. At least the shoe marks on my head and the trip to the emergency room proved I wasn't a coward. You know who won that battle? No one. I was beat up and he and his friends went to jail. Physical violence has always been my last choice since then. And if comes to that last choice I have learned to come hot and fast, screw all the posturing bs. (Message edited by phatkidwit1eye on June 01, 2007) | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
In Ohio he brake checks you....you hit him, you get the ticket. You follow him home, yell at him to the point he feels threatened, he calls police, you get arrested for road rage. OR he pulls a gun and is defending himself, you and more importantly your FAMILY lose. You see the pattern here. You cannot win. of course you need to understand it no longer is about winning or losing. Your missing the point rick. What if that guy had pulled a gun and shot you? You as a father have a responsibility to your wife and baby. It is that simple. | ||
| Ryker77 |
It's a shame that we live in a society where the popular opinion is to simply raise our arms and admit defeat when faced with aggression. I almost agree. If more people stood up for what is right. Then we would have far less society problems. But it doesn't allways take aggression / violence. All that shows is who is the better fighter or who had the biggest weapon. Chances the a-hole has done this crap before. Get his tag and call the cops. "IF" other people have had the jerk do this to them then it would/should be on record. 2 or more reports of his tag and it would be used against him. He could be an insurance scammer.... With a solid record of causing wrecks. All you did is make the idiot think twice before he does such a move. But he will go back to his frame of thought and brakecheck people again. | ||
| Djkaplan |
Calling the cops and complaining about traffic altercations has been a waste of time in my experience. A guy ran me off the road a couple months ago. I got his tag number and called the police. The tag was registered to an old man (not the young guy driving) that had a different car (not the Toyota pick-up that ran me off the road) in a city hundreds of miles away. Instead of following up on what was obviously some guy driving around with a stolen handicap license plate, the cop said unless he was there to see it, there was nothing he could do. I wonder if the guy driving that truck was an insurgent, drug smuggler, rapist, murderer or worse. I'll never know because the police in Columbus, Georgia don't care if people are driving around town with stolen tags, running people off the road. They got real crimes to deal with. Stupid me. | ||
| Rick_a |
For one I was not driving, my wife was. I admit I can be an aggressive driver (why my wife doesn't let me drive her car), but I've only been in one car wreck in my life and I don't screw around in traffic or purposely endanger others. My wife doesn't believe I'm an unsafe driver, she just doesn't want the accelerated wear and tear on her car. The 100mph+ with passenger was on a long barren stretch of road, not flying through traffic. I don't "rage", I just like to have some fun every now and then. I'm not worried about retaliation. I know where he lives. It would be pretty unwise on his part. If the guy had a gun he wouldn't of come at me with the first thing he saw. People intent on using a firearm will draw their weapon first. He was obviously posturing. I wasn't going to wait around for him to go inside and get it, either. If he did attempt to shoot me, I doubt my tone of voice would make it justifiable. That'd be a hard one to get by the DA. I've had people threaten to shoot me before. Unless there's a gun in my face, I'm not impressed. If I was walking down the street and some enraged jerk turned around and shoved me for no apparent reason I wouldn't just play it down and say sorry. I don't see this as being any different. I know the police generally can't do much. It'd just be a paperwork and a hassle for them. They generally only act if they see it going down...or issue citations to all parties involved. Not everyone may agree but if I could do it again I'd do the same thing. If anything it made for a comical and entertaining afternoon. I've been followed by drivers to my home who felt I was riding dangerously fast. I was nothing but cordial and understanding and let them on their way. That is the way adults should deal with things. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
For most of society, the days of "squaring off" and settling stuff are long gone. This situation could have easily lead to injury or arrest to either or both of you. Best to call the police to report and report the tag and driver. He may get away with driving like an arse this time, but eventually the law will catch up to him. | ||
| Bads1 |
Rick, Not alway's will someone pull a gun first if he has one. Hell just last year a friend of mine and family had a patron in his bar and was acting out of order. He was asked to leave... he wouldn't. Rick walked over to him and said its time to go took his drink and walked him out. They got outside and he pulled a gun and shot him in the stomach. That was Ricks fault. Should of asked him to leave. Then if he resists leaving that is what 911 is for. If he would have done that he wouldn't have got shot. The guy would have just left. You have a great weapon in your car. Its called a cell phone. You could have called the police and said I have a guy that is possibly driving drunk or out of control and explain what he is doing. The police will tell you to stay a distance from him and keep you on the line and send a patrol out. He'd get pulled over,you'd get your satisfaction and nobody hurt. I also have a bar and people drinking Liquid stupid can be very difficult to deal with but you can do it carefully. I'm not saying he was drunk but hey you never know. Don't let your temper fly unless without doubt you have the upper hand or someone could get hurt and it doesn't matter who it is....you,him,your family its not worth it. | ||
| Rick_a |
My point is that people who say, "I'm gonna shoot you," "I'll fill you with lead," or "do you feel lucky, punk?," while backing away are hardly a threat in my experience. They wouldn't threaten someone with words if there was a weapon to present. Cops are useless in this type of situation. It would've been a waste of time for them and me. This I know. This is starting to sound like all the stories people told me when I first started riding a motorcycle...yes I know people are dangerous but I play with them anyway. Just like with motorcycles, I wear all the appropriate gear to handle bad situations. I appreciate the concern and dismiss the attacks of character. I believe in an eye for an eye and getting even, not mad. If we hadn't had a baby we'd still be driving the '88 Dodge pickup and probably would've destroyed his vehicle. Then again, he probably would've known better then to try that stunt. Bullies only like to prey on the meek and meager. Driving a small car is almost as bad as riding a motorcycle as far as respect from other motorists go. | ||
| Bads1 |
He did what he did and you can't prove it. It's a he said she said thing. But he can prove you followed him home. If anything had happened guess what??? Your fault. Doesn't matter you should of walked away. Sorry I see more nuts then you could probably imagine. It what drinking can do. | ||
| Rick_a |
Don't think so. If he had used force against me it probably would've gone down as a mutual combat battle and a couple of citations. If he had struck me with the pipe, regardless of its affect, that is aggravated assault. Sorry, but engaging someone verbally is not a crime. | ||
| Cochise |
You weren't on a motorcycle, you weren't the one driving the car, think about it Batman, you could use your Bat Pen, jot Penguin's phone number down, and call the Commissioner on the Bat Phone and maybe they would be able get the guy for road rage. You ever watch Basketball? First guy shoves the second, Ref doesn't see it, then second guy shoves back. Bang, Technical Foul, and the second guy is now the bully, which is what you seemed to be. I know, I shouldn't judge. | ||
| Ryker77 |
Justice is blind. Crime and what happens in a court of law is and can be twisted real easy. I once was at a intersection in Jacksonville NC aka Marines. The ••••••• behind me didn't like the fact that I was waiting for a safe chance to go, so he blew his horn. Hothead me just from the gym  I toss up the hello f^ck you finger. At the same time I notice his DoD sticker and Gunnery Sgt. sticker - shit. He gets out with "hey Marine" and come towards my car. I GO. The guy follows me home till I see than I don't want him knowing who I am or where I live. So down a side road at 100+mph on Holloween. So I turn back towards town ie towards the police dept. On the way I spot a cop car, flash my lights and pull over. My "story" was the guy grabbed my door handle then chased me. Touching a door of an occupied car is a felony! APB is placed on the truck. Point is the guy getting chased can claim alot becuase at this point he is the victim of a road rager. You tried to push him off the road, flashed high beams, cursed and made verbal threats... etc etc all un-provable by both sides but will and can be USED against you in a court room. | ||
| Bads1 |
Rick to me You sound like you have it all figured out and didn't need to post this here. Others opinions shadow mine and other dissagree with you in other words. Take it easy man and good luck. | ||
| Tom_b |
I live in a city of about 500,000 and about 490,000 of them are incodsiderate or just bad drivers. I put 26,000 miles a year on my work van and it is all urban driving. when something stupid happens I just grit my teeth and go on. My urge to confront them is there, but what would REALLY be the point. Just take a deep breath, count to ten and move on. Road rage is road rage, regardless of who thinks they are right. I TRY to take the upper road most people will never learn from confronting them. They will do the same as you and chalk it up to some psycho •••••••. | ||
| Ratyson |
... our 5 month old baby was in the car. I urged her to follow him home... Not a very intelligent reaction on your part, or on your wife's part either. Let me put forth another possible ending to your story. You follow him home, where he exits his vehicle, walking towards you and your family. He then produces a handgun from his waistband and begins firing in your direction. You manage to escape being shot, and you jump in the car as your wife nails the gas. You get a mile down the road and realise that you do not hear your baby crying, which you should be hearing considering the comotion. You look back in the car seat, and notice that your baby is not breathing. Upon closer inspection, you come to the horrible realiz}ation that one of the bullets went through the car door and struck your child, killing him/her. Now... Was it worth it following this person home? Use your head next time. | ||
| Swampy |
Mark his spot and go back later and burn his neighborhood down. If you are really serious about it take out the whole block. There I said it, lets move on! | ||
| Bads1 |
Damn Swampy you must be watching the same thing on TV tonight as me..... Bad Boy's part 2.lol | ||
| Swampy |
TV? | ||
| Bads1 |
Yep TV??? You might wanna watch less Mr. Eastwood. | ||
| Rick_a |
I'll listen to anything people have to say, but that doesn't mean I'll follow it. The guy lives a few blocks away. Now he's gotten to know another neighbor. Ryker, that story reminds me of my last days in the Corps. It was tough being a hard headed 22 y/o sergeant that still looked 18 years old. I'd gotten into countless verbal altercations with my peers on libo, mainly concerning attire (amazing how many highly motivated young NCO's felt it was their personal duty to ensure I had a tucked in shirt!). That gets tiring after a while. If more people dealt with problems head on and stood up for themselves we'd have less suicides, less adults going postal, and less "victimized" students going on killing sprees. I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't believe there's anything wrong with confronting problems, regardless of what or who they are. Demographics has a bit to with opinions on this, too. Most of my peers at work either thought this was hilarious, didn't think it was a good idea, or told me I should've said nothing and simply sucker punched the guy. Opinions vary. (Message edited by Rick_a on June 07, 2007) | ||
| Djkaplan |
I confronted a guy at a stoplight for giving me the finger. He was upset about how I passed him and then tailgated me to the next stoplight, flipping me off. I got out of my truck, walked right up to him (he wouldn't get out from behind his door - probably packing) and he backed down like a wet noodle. I told the toughest guy I personally know (a former Marine and total badass) the story, and he said something that totally shocked me. I thought he was going to say, "Yeah man, you showed him", or "Good for you". No... that's not what he said at all. He said, "That guy could have killed you. Do you want to die over something stupid or important?". That made a lot of things a bit clearer for me. It was my ego that I was defending, not my life. If your ego is strong enough (like my friend's) you can walk away from just about anything. Make it happen over something important, that's all I'm trying to say. If you can walk away... walk away. Make sure your family stays safe and protected... but still have a plan to kill everyone around you... if you have to. And tell your wife to not follow so close. I refuse to believe this happened over nothing. | ||
| Cochise |
If we're talking about toughness, then we're talking about me. Three of the Toughest men in the World live scattered all over the U.S. and they all send me Christmas Cards. | ||
| Rick_a |
I'm telling you she was not following close. The guy was driving a bit erratically to begin with and was accelerating hard exiting corners and off stops (leaving a cloud of black smoke in his wake). It seemed really pointless as there were a couple of slower cars ahead of him. We laughed about it and perhaps he saw that in his mirror. We took a detour to try to get ahead but ended up right behind this car again. That had us chuckling again. Hers is an underpowered 4 cyl car with 4 occupants that corners pretty well so she was able to keep up with him without any effort. The only time we got any closer to him was when we slowed to about 5 mph for a very slow turning pickup truck taking a side street. Hardly anything to get upset over as there was still plenty of room considering the speed. Before he almost slammed us he slowed at a yellow light as if to try to force us to stop at a red but she made it through. He then accelerated to slightly past the speed limit...as she followed suit...then slammed his brakes, locking his wheels up. We were both stunned and puzzled by it. I've got no reason to lie about it, it hardly defends the issue, and I'm offended to be accused of such. If she was driving too close I would have probably been a bit pissed but would've probably laid some of the blame on her and let it go. I don't care how gun crazy people think the world is, I'm still not afraid to talk to strangers. It's not an issue of ego. I'm the kind of person that while others are content with talking about people behind their backs, I say those things to ones face. It's just in my nature. (Message edited by Rick_a on June 07, 2007) | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
What would Chuck Norris do?? | ||
| Ryker77 |
Rick, I see your point. Most of us just look beyond it to the "what if" Say they guy doesn't have a gun and is a total p&ssy. But he still takes a lucky swing and your jaw is broke. Or you'll get into a scuffle. Your legs get wrapped up as years past he was trained in judo. You stumble but your leg is caught up with his and you tear your ACL (happed to me in class) How would your employer like you missing work? How would this look on your criminal record? I've been guilty of flipping out, just as late as two months ago. Tried to get the guy to pull over. Hell even one time and this was stupid. Some black guy on the freeway showed me some gang signs (fingers) show I showed him the big L sign for loser and told him to pull over... STUPID pulling over a person who uses "gang" signs and I was on my way to get fingerprinted for background check for work. STUPID. The punk was too scared to get out of his truck. I wasted my time, gas, and placed my life, health, and job on the line. Be safe and enjoy life. You'd spend all day 24/7/365 trying to cure stupid people from being stupid. |
