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Old 09-11-2008, 10:26 AM   #37 (permalink)
Silveredwings
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RH77 View Post
Definitely an extraneous circumstance. You certainly have a case for negligence against the PD if you're the litigator-type. So, what are you going to do with your "large" now? Imagine the same scenario, but now you're packed. What you gonna do?
I don't know what makes the lives of me and my party extraneous. What word did you really mean here? Anecdotal?

And who said I carry? Did I? And litigator's are sent in only after the fact assuming there are survivors. What I needed was a cop, not just lipstick on a pig.

I did not have a cell phone and had to stop at a pay phone. Perhaps in hindsight I did this imperfectly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RH77 View Post
If folks don't want to "bend over and take-it", so be it. My suggestion is to ignore people wanting to elicit a reaction and be mature about it instead of the juvenile exchange that ensues.
um...blink. blink... OK, in the heat of the moment after being forced into a ditch, I memorized his license plate and description as he sped away. I called the cops to let them handle it. Are you saying that was the right thing to do, but I was wrong to do it? I can't tell if you're just trying to be inflammatory of my ineffective response to a bad situation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RH77 View Post
I don't carry a gun, nor will I. I already have a weapon. It's blue, made in Japan, and weighs 2700 lbs. I could have easily turned the wheel, threw it in reverse and ran over the guy. Despite how I feel, human life is still valuable. If he had a gun, I would have improvised for the safety of both of us.
Now you are talking of a different situation, not mine.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RH77 View Post
I've outrun perps before. If you drive fast enough and correlate it with a call to the authorities, it will get attention.

Siveredwings: It's not clear what happened -- bump and mug? What if they're packing too? Then you're in a fire-fight. If you shoot someone, the consequences could be more severe than getting robbed or having your BMW scuffed.
Dude, I was driving a Miata, and had my step son with me. I had to get out of the car and walk to a phone. This was a "return to the scene" for the perp who had a truck and a Rottweiler and who knows what else, tried to run me over when he came back. I really don't think this has anything to do with a ****ing beemer.

If we're talking about hypotheticals, where he had threatened me with a gun...
if I had one available to me, I would have first, sought an escape route and used my cell phone (assuming I had one of those too) to call the cops such as they are. Failing that, I would have stalled for time as long as I thought was prudent considering the danger my party was in. Failing all that and remaining in imminent mortal danger, I would have aimed center mass and discharged a few rounds. Two, maybe three. No sweet talk. No reacharound. No shoot the pistol out of his hand. It's him or it's me. But the truth is that like the real situation, it's never that predictable or clear cut. That's why I don't carry. For all I know, his brother is syndicated. There's no walking away w/o some harm.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RH77 View Post
My point is to ignore gestures by other drivers and avoid the escalting the situation. Tempers are dangerous and road rage is on the rise. Bad combination.
Exactly, great way to wrap it up. Unfortunately what makes both the
  • tempers worse, and
  • the dangers more real,
because of immediate helplessness on the part of victims and equally immediate impunity for the perps, is the perceived impotence of the cops, however anecdotal the facts may be.

The feeling that "you're on your own," as the cop in my story told me, exacerbates the whole thing. Am I alone in seeing this?
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