Traffic Incident

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G23WAX
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Traffic Incident

#1

Post by G23WAX »

Tell me if you would've handled this different.

We live in a newer custom home neighborhood and typically on the weekends the kids all congregate and adults come outside to watch them.
Saturday night, everyone was down the street and wanted us to come down. I was pushing my two daughters in the stroller, wife beside me on one side and son on the other walking down the sidewalk. I hear tires screeching up the street and a car approaches the stop sign, squeals all 4 tires around the corner while running it. At this point he is headed towards where all the other kids are playing and adults congregated. My neighbor goes into knife hand mode and yells at the driver to slow down. He responds be erratically swerving and speeding up while taking an immediate left into a culdesac. He continues squealing all the way around the culdesac and heads back towards the street everyone was and not slowing down. Another dad parks an atv (yes that is againt the law on a city street) in the street in front of them and puts up his hands to slow down. They respond by hopping the curb around him.
This is where it gets interesting. They could take a left and pull out of the neighborhood away from the kids and other or take a right and go back through where they came from. I was watching from a distance until I saw them take a right. They squeeled around the corner again taking a right heading back towards the kids and towards my family who was with me on the curb. Seeing they had no respect for lanes, angry dads, or curbs I ran towards them in the street with my hands up yelling stop. I was attempting to put myself between my family and them. They sped up when they saw me and slammed on the brakes as they got to me. They then swerved around and made contact with me with their mirror. In a last ditch effort to get them to stop I left a large dent in the 1/4 panel with my fist. They then ran the stop sign again next to my family on the corner and squeeled away.
We sat for a bit contemplating if they were drunk, high, kids, or what when an officer pulled up to our group and singled me out. Apparently they had pulled away, called the police, reported an assault and told a much different story. Luckily there were 5 or 6 adult witnesses that backed me up but apparently there is a detective looking into it. I assume nothing will happen, but happy I had the mental faculty not to draw my gun. What would you do different?

dlh
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Re: Traffic Incident

#2

Post by dlh »

The detective looking into it should bust the driver of that vehicle for reckless driving. Glad you were not hurt.
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mr1337
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Re: Traffic Incident

#3

Post by mr1337 »

Does anyone in the neighborhood have cameras covering the street?

Find out who and get the footage to the detective. That guy needs to be prosecuted for putting everyone's lives in danger.
Keep calm and carry.

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G23WAX
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Re: Traffic Incident

#4

Post by G23WAX »

dlh wrote:The detective looking into it should bust the driver of that vehicle for reckless driving. Glad you were not hurt.
Thanks, I would even be ok with them just dropping it. I try my best to think subjectively and can somewhat understand not wanting to stop when someone is in front of your vehicle. I am also a 6'1" 300lb bald, bearded powerlifter so that doesn't help. haha.

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G23WAX
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Re: Traffic Incident

#5

Post by G23WAX »

mr1337 wrote:Does anyone in the neighborhood have cameras covering the street?

Find out who and get the footage to the detective. That guy needs to be prosecuted for putting everyone's lives in danger.
I wish they did, but we were in the newest section at the end of our street where they are still building and no one lives there yet.
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allisji
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Re: Traffic Incident

#6

Post by allisji »

G23WAX wrote: What would you do different?
Next time, make sure you call the cops before they do. The driver should have been arrested for reckless driving at the very least. You may have had justification to pull your weapon. But if you do that, you definitely can't let the BGs call the cops first.
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G23WAX
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Re: Traffic Incident

#7

Post by G23WAX »

allisji wrote:
G23WAX wrote: What would you do different?
Next time, make sure you call the cops before they do. The driver should have been arrested for reckless driving at the very least. You may have had justification to pull your weapon. But if you do that, you definitely can't let the BGs call the cops first.
That was our biggest take away. We definitely should've called first.
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allisji
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Re: Traffic Incident

#8

Post by allisji »

G23WAX wrote:
allisji wrote:
G23WAX wrote: What would you do different?
Next time, make sure you call the cops before they do. The driver should have been arrested for reckless driving at the very least. You may have had justification to pull your weapon. But if you do that, you definitely can't let the BGs call the cops first.
That was our biggest take away. We definitely should've called first.
It's a hard thing to remember when you're just glad that everyone's OK. Now if someone had gotten hurt, then it's obvious you need to call for help. It's a good near miss to learn from. We all have to be reminded sometimes that the BGs can call the cops on us just as easily as we can on them.
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Keith B
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Re: Traffic Incident

#9

Post by Keith B »

Just like when you have to pull your gun, I tell my students 'The one who calls the police first is USUALLY the victim.' No matter if the incident seems to have deescalated, go ahead and make a call and let the police determine if they need more info and want to make a report/case on it.
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Jusme
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Re: Traffic Incident

#10

Post by Jusme »

If he was squealing tires and driving over curbs, there should be evidence on the pavement, grass etc.. Get photos, stay in touch with the investigator. With no injuries, these kinds of cases often get dropped into a low priority bin. You may feel that it's over and no harm, no foul, but if he drives like that in your neighborhood, what about others? JMHO
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Scott B.
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Re: Traffic Incident

#11

Post by Scott B. »

Priority for me would be get the family/kids to safety. Ask somebody to document the event (make, model, color, plates) video or photos (cell phones are everywhere!), if you are otherwise engaged, and call the constabulary. Attempting to stop a vehicle with a 4 wheeler, or even a large power lifter, could have turned much uglier.

You don't know the driver's mindset. Is it just a punk kid driving recklessly, a stolen vehicle that's been used in a series of crimes, or maybe there's a body in the trunk? No way to know.

The other option, 124 grains (or whatever), has a whole 'nother set of challenges when attempting to stop a ton plus of idiot behind the wheel.
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AJSully421
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Re: Traffic Incident

#12

Post by AJSully421 »

So, someone charged at you with a motor vehicle, and came so close to running you down that they hit you with their side mirror?

Sounds like rounds through the glass were called for.

It is going to be up to you to make sure that your bases are covered. You will need to personally gather statements from the witnesses (especially the guy who he jumped a curb to get around) and get pictures of any turf damage / skid marks from the area.

Even if you are not charged criminally, don't think for one second that this jerk will not sue you in small claims court for the body damage.

In hindsight, no one was hurt, and you did not have to discharge a firearm and deal with all of the problems that that causes... so I cannot find fault with anything that you did.
Last edited by AJSully421 on Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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G23WAX
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Re: Traffic Incident

#13

Post by G23WAX »

Jusme wrote:If he was squealing tires and driving over curbs, there should be evidence on the pavement, grass etc.. Get photos, stay in touch with the investigator. With no injuries, these kinds of cases often get dropped into a low priority bin. You may feel that it's over and no harm, no foul, but if he drives like that in your neighborhood, what about others? JMHO
It would make sense in theory, but there were a lot of things playing against that.
1. the squeeling was caused by breaking the tires loose due to sideways inertia unlike burning out which causes a lot of heat and leaves darker marks.
2.this was an unfinished section of the neighborhood so it was dirt lots.
3.the curbs in our neighborhood are the angled ones that are easy to drive up so no marks. :???:
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ELB
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Re: Traffic Incident

#14

Post by ELB »

Wow. Have you been able to calm down yet?

+1 on gathering all the evidence you might ever need ASAP, even if you don't currently plan to do anything. Also, me, I would call a lawyer and get a quick consult on this. This could go several directions, several of them bad. Aside from the civil and criminal implications, what if you are now on this clown's poo-list and he decides to stalk or otherwise harass you.

Now, in the calm reflection of my office, ;-) it appears that putting your body between your family and the car is noble, but it would not have stopped the car. Even shooting the driver is not necessarily helpful if he's already pointed the car at you. Getting your family and yourself out of the way is the only real option. I would hope while you were doing your thing that your wife was getting the kids out of the way. You two might want to discuss how to handle any future crises.

Good luck!
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