I had my first encounter with road rage last night. My son and I were on our way to work about 9:30 pm. There was a vehicle behind me and all I could see in my rear view mirror was tail lights. This went on for a few miles. I tried to be nice at first and just let off the accelerator to get them off my "rear". When that didn't work, I refered back to a previous post about tailgators and did a sudden slow down. Still didn't work. Finally, on a long stretch of county road, the vehicle passes me. About half way through their pass, they threw something and hit my BRAND NEW TRUCK! Major thud. So of course I speed up to get their tag no. *#%@! They are pulling a trailer so I can't see it. Suddenly they pull into a church parking lot where two of them jump out of their truck. My son gets out to see what their problem is. Those two jump on him and two more crawl out. I go to check the tag and it's only a paper tag with the name of a car dealership on it. I'm trying to get the fat kid off my son and one boy comes toward me rared back. Realizing I'm not a guy, he backs off. At least his parents taught him something. I then see an oncoming car and flag it down. Luckily, it's someone I know and I have him call the law. Meanwhile, the little morons take off. After the law shows up, (Just happens to be a good friend of my son), I find out that they have punched my son in the face, but no blood. He did have a headache all night though. He could have held his own, as he is pretty stout, if bubba hadn't set on him, Anyway, I couldn't see the side of my truck until morning. My son beat me to it and told me I had a dent and a big scrape over an inch long and half an inch wide. Thank goodness Ford sent me some touch up paint when I bought the truck. Right on the curve behind the door where it will be hard to fix. They haven't found them yet, but I'm going to have the sherrif call the dealership and find out who bought that truck. A deputy is supposed to come to my house tonight to take pictures. Those idiots will pay one way or the other. It sure is a scary feeling seeing your kid on the bottom of the pile. I will now carry a bat or something in my car to protect him and myself. (He's 6'4". I'm 5"8". Can you see me protecting him?) Save the scolding. I know I probably shouldn't have stopped in the first place, But kids like that need to be put in their place. They won't be so lucky next time. I've only had my truck a little over two monthe and so far I've had a shopping cart down the side and now this. Sometimes I just think I' m not meant to have anything nice. They had definitely better be glad I wasn't driving the "78. I had plenty of tools in the back of it! I'm still ticked but thanks for listening.

 

Completely understandable what you did, I would to. The only scarey thing is if they would have been armed, that could have gotten ugly. Would that you had a cell phone to be able to call them in. With the road number and mileage reference marker number that would have gotten some action. When you find out who don't forget the assualt charges. If one of them is an adult(18 and older) then it is aa adult assualting a minor if your son is under 18. Sometimes I wish for the old days when you couldthump the %^&* out of them and not get into trouble.

 

Your lucky the "kids" in the truck didn't have a bat or even worse a gun. Regret is what happens after someone has been seriously hurt. I hope you never have to regret stopping like that again.

 

Quote: There was a vehicle behind me and all I could see in my rear view mirror was tail lights.

This should have been your first clue that something was wrong - that sucker was driving in reverse. Seriously, you should not play the "slow up" games with tailgaters, you never know who is back there. Since he was pulling a trailer, losing him should have been no problem, or use the cell and call for a cop.
Dono

 

Glad to hear your alright.Those situations can be very dangerous!

 

A little Mace goes a long way and noone dies. Plus, if a woman uses it a guy has to convince a judge pretty hard he was not the one at fault or intimidating the other person.

 

The Next time someone tailgate's you, put the hazard lights on and don't slow down much maybe 5 Mph.
This will relay to the vehicle behind you that you want them to go around you to get in front of you.

Try it, it works like a damn , best of all No Road Rage

 

Okay, so I'm still on an adrenaline rush. HEADLIGHTS! And no, I couldn't find my cell phone before I left for work. That's why I stopped the car. BTW, there is now a ball bat behind my seat. I do have a .380, but I'll leave it in it's proper place for now. I would say these kids were still in high school and my son is 18. It makes it sound like my son can't hold his own, which he can in a one on one, but the fat kid sat on him.

 

Glad things turned OK. That had to be a terrifying incident. While mace it nice, go, right now, to 1-800-FOX-LABS and order Fox 5.3 pepper spray. It's a crazy world out there and a couple of squirts of 5.3 will immediately subdue the baddest of the bad.

Just like the American Express card..."Don't leave home without it."

 

that is some messed up stuff, thats about the point where i grab a 2x4 and lay into some people

 

1978fordtruckgirl


Let me start by saying that I'm glad that you and your son weren't injured in the episode.

lecture mode on
But....what were you thinking when you pulled up to a truck full of kids and let your son get out? You put your son and yourself in a potentially deadly situation. Now maybe I have a differing perspective from you since I live close to Detroit, but I'd have my wife committed to a State Hospital if she ever did what you did. Trucks can be fixed. Seeing your kid beaten by a gang unnecessarily is just plain inexcusable, IMHO.
I would suggest that if something similar happens in the future and you don't have a CCW, get a plate number and avoid any confrontation. The wise man/woman is one who lives to fight another day. No truck is worth someone's life.
lecture mode off

Now, having gotten that off my chest, here are a few things that I've done to keep a tailgater off my butt.
1. Turn on your windshield washers. When you're traveling at a descent rate of speed, some of the mist invariably hits the tailgating car.
2. Pretend to be adjusting the radio dial while you lean to the right and gently steer the car onto the shoulder of the road. You'd be surprised how fast someone will slow up as their vehicle gets pelted by roadside gravel. (The reason that you fake playing with the radio is so that you don't **** the person off by making it look like you did it deliberately.)
3. This one's tough to do unless you drive a fast car. Slow up a bit, drop down a gear and peel rubber in front of the tailgater. I have a loud Z28 stroker with over 400HP and when I stomp the peddle, it scares the bejeezes out of tailgaters.

 

Just go get yourself a gun rack and a shotgun. If no.......
Remember to be very peaceful when you find where they bought their truck. Let it all blow over. Wait 6 months, if your still mad, be peaceful again, in the darkness of night.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 1978fordtruckgirl
[B]BTW, there is now a ball bat behind my seat. I do have a .380, but I'll leave it in it's proper place for now.

The bat might not be such a good idea. In CT a baseball bat in a car is considered carrying a weapon, and I have seen people get busted for it. Now the .380, if it is legal to carry that in your state, might be better. You might want to think about getting your permit to carry a concealed weapon, then you can carry a handgun on your person.

 

you can always keep a tire iron behind the seat, they come with trucks from the factory.

 

a gun rack and an NRA decal could help, I would have fixed the side of their truck with my push bar at about 20mph also what works beder than mase is a cow prod (tazer) that are hand held they will knock you down and could cause confulsions (i can move over a 1 ton angry bull with no problem with one) you could get one at tractor supply, also a .22 revolver with bird shot is good at scaring people. one way to deal with tailgaters at night would be to have a roll bar in the bed of your truck with 2 to 4 uncovered KC Daylighters and spot them like dear and slam the brakes.