Maniac following friend and his daughter

[RustyNail]

So my friend in the Vancouver area was out and about with his 2 year old daughter in the back seat of his car. A truck with a mid 50's male started following him for a couple miles literally 2 feet from his back bumper. My friend was obeying all traffic laws and going 5mph over the speed limit so its not like he was driving slow or did something "road rage worthy" for the man to be upset about. Friend turned into a local Walmart-mart parking lot and the truck continued to follow him extremely closely, 2-3 feet away from the back bumper. He went up and down multiple lanes at the Walmart and the truck continued to follow him unusually close. At this point he was concerned for his safety as well as his daughters so he pulled his gun out of the glovebox and waved it in the rear view mirror so the man could see it and the man driving the truck immediately left the area. The incident was totally unprovoked. Everyone knows police are short handed and may not show up. What would you have done in this scenario? I am eager to hear how other seasoned gun owners would handle this situation.

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[HA556]

so he pulled his gun out of the glovebox and waved it in the rear view mirror so the man could see it and the man driving the truck immediately left the area.

I would not have done this as he could easily have been charged with brandishing a firearm if the other driver had decided to push the issue. Simply would have come down to one word against the other and, the other driver could claim he just happen to be going in same direction. Then was threatened for no reason by the guy waving a gun. That gun should never come out in a situation unless imminent threat is at hand!

 

[arakboss]

So my friend in the Vancouver area was out and about with his 2 year old daughter in the back seat of his car. A truck with a mid 50's male started following him for a couple miles literally 2 feet from his back bumper. My friend was obeying all traffic laws and going 5mph over the speed limit so its not like he was driving slow or did something "road rage worthy" for the man to be upset about. Friend turned into a local Walmart-mart parking lot and the truck continued to follow him extremely closely, 2-3 feet away from the back bumper. He went up and down multiple lanes at the Walmart and the truck continued to follow him unusually close. At this point he was concerned for his safety as well as his daughters so he pulled his gun out of the glovebox and waved it in the rear view mirror so the man could see it and the man driving the truck immediately left the area. The incident was totally unprovoked. Everyone knows police are short handed and may not show up. What would you have done in this scenario? I am eager to hear how other seasoned gun owners would handle this situation.

Did the truck look like this one?

 

[Certaindeaf]

This is why I put hair on my truck nutz.

 

[RustyNail]

I would not have done this as he could easily have been charged with brandishing a firearm if the other driver had decided to push the issue. Simply would have come down to one word against the other and, the other driver could claim he just happen to be going in same direction. Then was threatened for no reason by the guy waving a gun. That gun should never come out in a situation unless imminent threat is at hand!

Its sounded like he was following extremely close. He went to Walmart so he could prove the person was following him at extremely close distances for an obnoxious amount of time so he had a leg to stand on and also be in a public place. The fact that the guy sped off makes me think the guy following was up to no good. The situation was enough to make him feel like it was an imminent threat or danger, especially with his 2 year old in the back seat. Brandishing was probably the least of his worries. I guess this is what we get for living in a liberal crony state with crazy people running rampant. The guy could have been hopped up on drugs..meth or something. Who knows.

 

[MTpockets]

Push this to warn, and or draw attention from others...


Dial this so that Law Enforcement knows there is a problem...


Attempt to drive to the nearest Law Enforcement facility...

In most situations,+ as described, Deescalation will prevent a violent outcome.
I consider brandishing a firearm as an escalation and would assume that if I have a firearm in my hand, in the view of the public, that I may start receiving gunfire.(Edit to add: I am currently in Arizona, and assume everyone is exercising Constitutional Carry)..(Edit to add 2: Escalating the situation with a child in the vehicle would not be optimal)

Not sure if that info is worth 2cents, but it is what I have for you this morning.

 

[Alexx1401]

I can tell you what I would NOT EVER do, just what he did. If the scum calls 911 and gives his plate and says "he showed a gun", police will come to him and it will most likely NOT go well. I can already see you do not want to hear this answer so its only for those who may want to do the same thing.
Assuming he has a cell phone? He should call 911 and follow what they tell him to do. This I would do. Now I would have had a gun at the ready but NOT flash it to the idiot following me.

 

[HA556]

Now I would have had a gun at the ready but NOT flash it to the idiot following me.

Exactly!

 

[kmk1012]

I also agree that the firearm should have not been shown. I agree that it should have been at the ready, btw the glovebox is a terrible place for a gun, but still held low and out of sight. Guns in the jockey box are just asking for trouble. If pulled over and officer wants to see registration, insurance, etc, you basically will have to automatically give consent to search as most officers will not want you fumbling with a gun while retrieving paperwork.

 

[Provincial]

Never keep a gun where the vehicle paperwork resides!

Or anything else "interesting."

 

[gryghin]

Push this to warn, and or draw attention from others...
View attachment 1290625

Dial this so that Law Enforcement knows there is a problem...
View attachment 1290626

Attempt to drive to the nearest Law Enforcement facility...
View attachment 1290627
In most situations,+ as described, Deescalation will prevent a violent outcome.
I consider brandishing a firearm as an escalation and would assume that if I have a firearm in my hand, in the view of the public, that I may start receiving gunfire.(Edit to add: I am currently in Arizona, and assume everyone is exercising Constitutional Carry)..(Edit to add 2: Escalating the situation with a child in the vehicle would not be optimal)

Not sure if that info is worth 2cents, but it is what I have for you this morning.

++ for this!

I told my kids to know where the police stations are for this exact reason.

Which reminds me... I need to make sure they remember this.

 

[CLT65]

There are a lot of messed up people out there with really short fuses. It's good to have a plan in advance on how to de-escalate road-ragers if you come across one. Remember, your safety is important to you; their safety may not be important to them.

I've been teaching my two teenagers to drive over the last couple years. When learning, they're timid and make mistakes, and there are a lot of high-strung drivers out there that will flip out over the tiniest inconvenience. We ended up buying some magnetic signs for the back of the car- "Student Driver - Please Be Patient". That really seemed to help.

I had an incident a couple weeks ago. I had just dropped my wife off at the surgery center for major surgery. They wouldn't let me even stay in the waiting room (COVID), so I just came home. On a rural road between Beaverton and home, I stopped at a four-way stop, waiting for a couple other cars that had the right-of-way. I don't know what the problem was, maybe I didn't jack-rabbit out quick enough or something, but the white pickup behind me blared his horn. It wasn't a quick "hey buddy" honk, but more of a "OUT OF MY WAY, bubblegum!" honk. I made my turn, but even then apparently wasn't going fast enough for him, because he followed me for about a half mile, inches from my bumper, holding his horn down. Here I was worried about my wife under the knife at that moment, not able to be with her, and some absolute piece of trash was road-raging on me. The only thing I did was speed up to put distance between us, and he turned off.

I gotta be honest, and this will probably offend some here, but if any delay or inconvenience causes you to turn on the anger, if you drive with your horn and your finger, you've got a problem. You need to back off and calm down a little. There's always going to be someone who inconveniences you or gets in your way. Take a deep breath and let it go. I've learned to do this myself over the last decade or so, and it sure makes driving much more pleasant. Someone cuts you off, gets in your way, or is going too slow? Just remember, your safety is more important than your ego. For the average American male it's hard to do, but gets easier with practice.

As to waving a gun, I have to agree- very bad idea.
A good friend of mine told me a story from when he was in the Marine Corps stationed in California, back in the '90s. He had been out shooting or something and was driving back to base when some kind of incident happened with a truck. The truck driver started raging, tailgating with his horn blowing. My friend said he got tired of it and pulled out his Super Redhawk, waved it so the trucker could see. He said he'd never heard Jake-brakes so loud and close, and the truck disappeared in an instant.

BUT- when he got back to base, the security guy at the gate came out and waved him over before he got to the gate. "Hey buddy, we got a call from CHP that we need to search your car for a large, silver handgun. I don't want to find one, so before you come through my gate, I'd like you to consider that I WILL be searching your vehicle thoroughly when you do."

He turned around and visited a friend off base first. When he came back, the guard tore his car apart looking for a gun, and reported back to CHP that there was none to be found. He knew he'd have been in a world of hurt had someone else been manning the gate.

 

[titsonritz]

At this point he was concerned for his safety as well as his daughters so he pulled his gun out of the glovebox and waved it in the rear view mirror so the man could see it and the man driving the truck immediately left the area.

That was a mistake, potentially a costly one had the wrong person seen it, not to mention 100% loss of surprise.

Jeff Cooper Principles of Personal Defense: Alertness; Decisiveness; Aggressiveness; Speed; Coolness; Ruthlessness; and Surprise.

 

[L84Cabo]

Well I would not have pulled my gun out and potentially broken the law by brandishing it. The guy behind you now knows that you're armed too...and if he's truly crazy he may just start shooting at you. That is not a wise move.

You definitely arm up...I would argue he should have been armed already because it's 2022 and our world is going to crap...and then you jump on the phone with 911 and advise them that you are being followed and arrange for a place to meet an officer. You don't stop. You don't confront the dude. And you don't allow yourself to get boxed in anywhere that might then force a confrontation.

If the police are busy and can't come to you, then I would attempt to drive to them. Pull up right to their front door, grab your kid and head inside.

Was your friend driving in the far left lane on the freeway perhaps?

 

[jackrv]

Never keep a gun where the vehicle paperwork resides!

The paperwork for my vehicles reside in my wallet not in the vehicles. The firearm resides on my belt in an inside the waistband holster.

Jack