Man Acquitted of Road Rage Shooting (buy, moving to, roach)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Daisy7773

I grew up in CA and am familiar with the Hells Angels so I get the biker thing. I just misunderstood because I don't see many bikers around here and when I have it's more recreational folks.

I assure you that I know the difference.

Originally Posted by Q-tip motha

Not a very smart guy as all you needed to do was hit the brakes to cause him to eat your bumper.

The concept of a biker gang always struck me as being someone humorous given their overtly precarious position of being unprotected on their motorcycles. Pretty much any collision that you could cause with them and survive would likely kill or seriously injure them.

The thought crossed my mind but there were witnesses---three cars directly behind us. And he was probably skilled enough to evade it and then I would have been in bigger trouble. We weren't going very fast.

[soniqV]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

In most articles they don't mention the part where the driver came at him with the vehicle. Still though, are we now a society that just always takes law into our own hands? Can't we call 911? The police might be right down the street. Is it time to go to Hollywood's portrayal of the old west? Why are my tax dollars going to a police force if we are now just shooting others and then going out for a steak dinner after the quick trial? Couldn't the guy just run around the other side of his car and call the police and then the idiot drunk guy would still be living, but probably in jail? There are usually other options than to take another's life. I still feel "Thou Shall Not Kill", is a pretty darn good Commandment. Of course most southern bible toters seem to miss that Commandment if it is convenient for them, hence the "Stand your ground" law.

Call me crazy, but if someone is attempting to use deadly force against me, I'd rather take my chances disabling him than risk getting peeled off the ground by a coroner with 9-1-1 in my phone.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by Hopes

This is what I did the other night. A biker road raged on me. I was taken completely by surprise. He was screaming at me from his bike at a light. I thought something happened, that he needed help. I leaned out of my car to see what he wanted, and he went ballistic on me. I ignored him and started to drive when the light turned green. He started tailgating me and we could hear him screaming and screaming. It become obvious that he was following me. I didn't want to lead him to my house. It's one of the few times in my life I felt myself shaking inside. He was the real deal type of biker. I called the cops and stayed on the phone with the 911 operator until a police cruiser eventually intercepted and detained him. The only thing we can think set this guy off was our looking at him closely when he passed us on the highway because we thought he was our neighbor. Note to self: Don't look closely at bikers. It's like making eye contact with dogs.

I'm sure I have mentioned this is other threads, but my wife was once menaced by a trucker who thought she cut him off. This trucker, as in a full-sized semi and trailer, took it upon himself to bump the rear bumper of our car while going at least 45 MPH over a stretch of a mile. This took place right after getting on one of the highway bridges in NYC, which meant there was nowhere to go or to stop in order to avoid it until after the toll booths were passed. She was frightened out of her wits, but luckily there was nothing but superficial damage on the car and my wife recovered enough to get to where she was going that day. So long as no gun is involved, I'll take a mad dog biker over a rampaging trucker any day.

[gg]

Originally Posted by soniqV

Call me crazy, but if someone is attempting to use deadly force against me, I'd rather take my chances disabling him than risk getting peeled off the ground by a coroner with 9-1-1 in my phone.

Yeah, you go get'em there big hero. I think you have watched too many movies and forgot reality. How about simply walking around the other side of your car? Pretty hard to hit someone that has a car between you and them, but hey that might be too easy. Someone pulls a gun on me and I am in my car, I am going to take aim with my car and floor it as I duck and hope for the best. I certainly am not going to sit there waiting to be shot by and idiot. The guy had a good attorney I suspect and people down that way love guns.

[soniqV]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Yeah, you go get'em there big hero. I think you have watched too many movies and forgot reality. How about simply walking around the other side of your car? Pretty hard to hit someone that has a car between you and them, but hey that might be too easy.

I don't watch movies or TV at all. I am merely calculating risk. I do, however, advocate taking necessary precautions to prevent becoming a victim. A gun and proper training go a long way in ensuring that. Given that the victim possessed the ability to to disable the attacker, attempting to merely move out of the way would actually be a higher-risk scenario. E.g. He may not have been successful in moving fast or far enough. The attacker may have continued to pursue. Using his car as a shield is no guarantee he won't still get crushed. Point is, once deadly force is initialized then it's your life or his, and that's just basic survival 101, no Hollywood glitz.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Someone pulls a gun on me and I am in my car, I am going to take aim with my car and floor it as I duck and hope for the best. I certainly am not going to sit there waiting to be shot by and idiot. The guy had a good attorney I suspect and people down that way love guns.

If you turn around the order events from what actually happened into your hypothetical scenario, sure, you would absolutely be in the right to run him over, and that would be very good survival instinct. I find it quite odd, however, that you would have no qualms with that scenario merely because of the type of deadly force used, car vs gun.

Guess there is no arguing with fanatics on either side, pro- or anti-.

[gg]

Originally Posted by soniqV

I don't watch movies or TV at all. I am merely calculating risk.

To be honest, I didn't read beyond this because you calculations are WAY off and I really can't imagine having a conversation on this subject with you. You get out of your car (mistake 1). You walk towards the drunk idiot (mistake 2). He revs his engine and starts moving towards you as you pull a gun instead of merely walking behind your car for total protection and then dial 911 (mistake 3). Guns may have their place and no doubt you are some gun nut, trying to be some big hero. Lots of big hero types die. I had a concealed permit, so I am not anti-gun, but in this case the idiot with the gun had plenty of chance to just not deal with it. The person with the gun got lucky. He could have avoided this, but he got lucky. He got off a shot and it worked. If he missed, he might have been run over because the other drunk may have panicked and just floored it. It was total luck there John Wayne. Nothing more. Best to simply walk to the other side of your car. Much less luck involved, but whatever. Go pound your chest there John W. You da man.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

To be honest, I didn't read beyond this because you calculations are WAY off and I really can't imagine having a conversation on this subject with you. You get out of your car (mistake 1). You walk towards the drunk idiot (mistake 2). He revs his engine and starts moving towards you as you pull a gun instead of merely walking behind your car for total protection and then dial 911 (mistake 3). Guns may have their place and no doubt you are some gun nut, trying to be some big hero. Lots of big hero types die. I had a concealed permit, so I am not anti-gun, but in this case the idiot with the gun had plenty of chance to just not deal with it. The person with the gun got lucky. He could have avoided this, but he got lucky. He got off a shot and it worked. If he missed, he might have been run over because the other drunk may have panicked and just floored it. It was total luck there John Wayne. Nothing more. Best to simply walk to the other side of your car. Much less luck involved, but whatever. Go pound your chest there John W. You da man.

John Wayne died 30+ years ago

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by LIRefugee

I'm sure I have mentioned this is other threads, but my wife was once menaced by a trucker who thought she cut him off. This trucker, as in a full-sized semi and trailer, took it upon himself to bump the rear bumper of our car while going at least 45 MPH over a stretch of a mile. This took place right after getting on one of the highway bridges in NYC, which meant there was nowhere to go or to stop in order to avoid it until after the toll booths were passed. She was frightened out of her wits, but luckily there was nothing but superficial damage on the car and my wife recovered enough to get to where she was going that day. So long as no gun is involved, I'll take a mad dog biker over a rampaging trucker any day.

That's crazy! Many motorists aren't aware of how much danger is involved with semis even when the trucker is sane. Drivers often do cut trucks off without realizing it because they don't know that a significant amount of space is needed for trucks to slow down. The heavier the load, the more dangerous it is. Cars pull in very close and then slow down, the trucker is left feeling a heart attack trying to slow the truck down. This happens repeatedly every day they are on the road. It sounds like that trucker went over the edge from the constant day to day stress of it and took it out on your wife. It's a shame she wasn't able to get his truck number and report him to the police because he sure needs a new profession since he clearly can't handle the stress. Yours is one of the most terrifying stories I've ever heard. When I was young, I had a car push my car through an intersection, up onto a sidewalk, and almost into a brick wall. But we were at a stop when it happened, not going 45mph in heavy traffic, and it wasn't a semi.

As for the biker, the scary part was not knowing if he had a gun or not. That was my concern, along with not wanting to lead him to my house.

[gg]

Originally Posted by UKyank

John Wayne died 30+ years ago

But his life is still going strong on the old movies. Actually, I was never impressed with John Wayne. More of an Eastwood fan.

[gg]

Originally Posted by LIRefugee

I'm sure I have mentioned this is other threads, but my wife was once menaced by a trucker who thought she cut him off. This trucker, as in a full-sized semi and trailer, took it upon himself to bump the rear bumper of our car while going at least 45 MPH over a stretch of a mile. This took place right after getting on one of the highway bridges in NYC, which meant there was nowhere to go or to stop in order to avoid it until after the toll booths were passed. She was frightened out of her wits, but luckily there was nothing but superficial damage on the car and my wife recovered enough to get to where she was going that day. So long as no gun is involved, I'll take a mad dog biker over a rampaging trucker any day.

Crazy!