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It seems cliche to post road rage incidents these days since they seem to be part of daily life anymore, but my experience tonight had me prepared for a fight that I never wanted and never expected. It started after my wife asked me to pick up our 14 year old daughter in N Eugene.

I arrived to pick her up about 6:20 and headed for home east on Beltline Hwy. Traffic slowed near the Coburg exit for vehicles that were getting off so I moved to the left lane to pass. I was doing 60 in a 55 and had just passed the last of the vehicles that were slowing to exit when I noticed a black Mercedes approaching rapidly in my rearview mirror. As he swerved from the left lane to the right to pass me he narrowly missed my rear bumper and the front bumper of the vehicle I had just passed. While moving back over to the right lane I sounded my horn in dismay at "Mario's" complete disdain for mine and my daughter's safety, as well as that of everyone else on the road. The driver of the Mercedes then swerved back to the left lane, slammed on his brakes, waited for me to pass on the right, then took up a position 25 feet off my bumper. He was in such a hurry before this point but was suddenly completely content staying behind me, so I was pretty certain this had just graduated to road rage and that this jackdonkey was there to stay for a while...

He followed me through three highway interchanges before I approached my exit. I wasn't about to lead him to my home so I informed my daughter that the car behind us was the car from the earlier interaction that had been following us ever since. Much to my surprise, she replied "I know"; there hadn't been a word since the interaction as she was engrossed in her phone. I continued past my exit toward Thurston on Hwy. 126 with a plan to turn west on Main St. and call 911 if the car continued following. I hadn't voiced this plan to my daughter and was again surprised to hear her explain how we don't want to drive away from the populated area but could pull into a busy parking lot at a big store (I've told her all this stuff, but never thought she actually listened)! I turned west on Main and the Mercedes followed...

I called 911 and explained the situation to the dispatcher. While on the phone with her the Mercedes ripped by me on the left, moved to the right lane in front of me, cut through the gas station on the next corner to avoid the signal, and headed north on 42nd, but not before I relayed the license plate number to the dispatcher. I followed north on 42nd about 75 yards back while keeping the dispatcher informed of the position and path of travel; I don't believe the driver knew it was me behind him at this point because there was a lot of traffic at the intersection and I had waited for the light while he cut through the gas station. When we approached the intersection at 42nd and Olympic the light was red so I slowed down hoping the light would turn green before I closed the distance. That didn't happen, so to avoid coming to a stop behind the Mercedes I changed course to a pullout on the left, prepared to launch out of there quickly if needed, and waited for the officer who I knew by that time was close by.

I updated the dispatcher on my position and explained to her that I was a CHL holder and was carrying a firearm. I don't typically feel compelled to do that, but I wasn't sure what my interaction with the officer was going to entail and wanted to avoid surprises for everyone's safety. The officer arrived about 15 seconds later and had his window down, so I actually heard the dispatcher inform him of my armed status. He was very friendly and not concerned about my being armed, but wanted to be sure I was ok. My daughter was visible to him in the passenger seat which may have helped put his mind at ease. I explained what happened and although no crime had been committed he certainly understood the concern; he said I did a good job. A second officer arrived during our conversation but remained in his/her vehicle. I asked if he needed anything else from me and he said no, so I thanked him for his time and response and wished him a good evening.

During the entire incident, I kept thinking "this is why I carry a gun, and i will kill this guy if he does anything that threatens my daughter, but I'm going to do everything I can to avoid that". Things observed and learned:
  • As tempting as it is, avoid using the horn to express disapproval of jackdonkey drivers. It's not likely to make the situation better, but has lots of potential to make it worse
  • Keep talking to your kids about personal defense and survival tactics. Even if it appears that they aren't listening, sometimes they are
  • Make sure your family knows where your tools are and how to use them if possible. After the incident, I wished I had reminded my daughter that my backpack was in the back of the vehicle and that my personal trauma kit was in it
  • ALWAYS CARRY YOUR GUN! You don't get to pick the date, time and circumstances of the fight; the fight will come when it comes
Late model black Mercedes 4-door with dark tinted windows LP# 560 JVA. According to the LEO, the driver resides in Eugene.
 
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Well done, and good post! I normally live in Co, so i dont see this type of b.s. on the road back home, but my recent adventures in Orygun have reinforced my beliefs in always carrying my firearms with me/on me at all times when driving! I cannot believe the amout of road rage is have seen in my short time up there, its like a 3rd world country, and i feel for you guys!
I think you did the right thing in dealing with this asshat, and it was a good lesson for you and your daughter as well. The take aways you mentiond are good and wull provide fuel for further disscussions on safety and dealing with situations that can quickly escalate wit tragic results!
 
I feel like you are over reacting... you called the police because a car was following you, but when he stopped, you started following him?!
thats not too smart especially with your child in the car.
i hear my girlfriend tell me all the time the some asshat is flipping me off, and we laugh
I would not have lead the guy straight to my front door but I wouldnt have missed my exit either
I had a guy slam his brakes on the other morning in the middle of the road while we were both going 35mph on a 55mph road. I luckily stopped before hitting his vehicle. He stopped to tell me, he was upset my headlights were in his eyes. He was in a jetta, I was in a dodge ram 2500. I can't help that my headlights shine down into your car. All I said the the guy was "get back in your car!" as he was getting in his car I drove around him and left the area. No cop calling, no name calling, just keep going on your way and I will do the same.
 
As soon as I read about the horn in the story I immediately thought that was unnecessary. We all like to think that we are great drivers, but honking the horn at someone who is swerving and weeving in traffic won't make them drive nicer, best case scenario is they ignore you and keep driving, on the other side of things you have potentially violent road rage.

I'm glad you addressed the lack of needing to honk in your debrief.

Personally, as someone who possibly exceeds the speed limit on a frequent basis by more than 20% on freeways, I am always happy to let faster cars go by, it makes me warm inside thinking at least for a little ways I have someone catching the attention of the radar gun before me. :)
 
Well done!

...have to add that back East flipping folks off & honking is just what you do...

Out here? Will make somebody go all "CRAZY"! Following a guy and his daughter? Cuz they honked the horn at being a complete unsafe D bag? Who does that?
 
Always carry a FA; sure.

Defuse
Defuse
Defuse

Especially these days when so many people are on dope & meds. We aren't allowed the liberty of peaceful discourse since the 60s, and so many go from docile; straight to violent (idle to turbo boost).

Defuse!
 
If nothing else this story re-enforces the ideas of :
Stay alert...
Have a plan...
Be flexible...
Stay calm...
If armed , be prepared , but use other options if you can...
( At least that was my "take away )

Glad the OP and his daughter made it home and no one was harmed.
Andy
 
When you are carrying a firearm you have as stone cold obligation to de-escalate any volatile situation.

Now I understand when your adrenaline is pumping sometimes you want to do things that later you second guess and I am not trying to lambast you or say you did anything wrong. But as an outsider looking in its easy to say "you should have done this"

First off, Honking your horn. You may feel justified in doing so but in this case, you just became the antagonizer. You don't honk at people because they piss you off, you honk because you need to warn them or notify them of your presence. In many cases a blast of the horn is much the same as a middle finger out the window. (I know you mentioned this) When you are armed you are held to a higher standard. You might think nothing of blasting your horn (or even flipping a guy off) but if your situation escalates into a shooting it will be a strike against you.




Second, you followed this person. It is impossible to say you feared for your life and you were justified in defending your self if you had a chance to retreat. You did and chose to engage. If this had escalated into a shooting you likely would have been charged with a crime because you escalated the situation, then chose to follow when you have the option of retreating. Even if the other guy had a gun when he got out of the car it will now be difficult to argue self defense... Because you had the opportunity and ability to retreat and chose to stay engaged.

By your own account, you were "ready to kill this guy" because he cut you off and then followed you when you honked your horn. How do you think a jury of your peers would react to that in Eugene? Who do you expect them to see as the aggressor and who as the victim?

Just some things to think about.
 
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Glad everything turned out ok. Nothing wrong with calling the police. At the very least, there might have been other people who have previously called the police about that guy at some point. If he winds up in court that might work against him.

We all have our sucky driving moments. Whether we're at fault or not, it's not a good policy to let the 11 seconds of that driving interaction screw up the rest of the day. What's worse is that some folks will let that trigger them into aggressive behavior.
 
LOL I drive dump truck on average about 200 to 300 miles a day in the Salem area. Everyday I have people cut me off, pull right out in front of me, or try to drift into my steps. I rate their lack of driving skills and either use my conventional horn, Air horn, Or air horn conventional horn and middle finger. Its totally amazing how down right stupid people are and how unsafe their driving is. We have recently had to completely change our transfer route through Salem in an attempt to avoid changing lanes when going from Easy Salem to West Salem because people on the top of the Marion street Bridge were driving in such a way as to make an accident very likely. I'll have no less then 5 larger blinker lights on and people will race up to block me from changing lanes. In an average day I watch 5-6 cars totally blow red lights. Yesterday I watched a 78 pass school bus make a left turn at an intersection that cut off two pickups with full green lights BOTH pickups had to slam on their brakes (one even leaving skid marks) to avoid hitting the bus.
 
It seems cliche to post road rage incidents these days since they seem to be part of daily life anymore, but my experience tonight had me prepared for a fight that I never wanted and never expected. It started after my wife asked me to pick up our 14 year old daughter in N Eugene.

Well as tempting as honking or even giving a Bronx cheer can be it can be dangerous. Hopefully this did not go quite as described though. First no 911 dispatcher will encourage someone to follow a reckless driver. If one did they would be fired. What they will do is ask the person calling to stop following and let police take care of it. So if you talk to them then ignore them telling you to stop they will put that out. That the person following has been asked to stop following and is refusing. If you then tell the 911 dispatcher you are carrying a gun the next thing they put out it the person is refusing to stop following and is armed. These calls are recorded and kept for I don't know how long. So if you later end up in another "heated situation" and it does not go well these tapes will be played for you in court. Worst part of all this is you admit to chasing after this clown while you have a child in the car with you? VERY poor choices here.
 
Respectfully. Not well done. You should have immediately broken contact. You had your daughter with you! Being CCL armed makes it worse. The first thing about confrontations is to not have one. You can not save the world.

Respectfully.
 
Again, more than a week ago, I had an individual with something less than a room temperature IQ in Central Park WA decide he wanted to play TAG with me. This was long before the term Road Rag became a part of the media language. The Bride and I were alone but as usual I was packing. It was fortunate that a Deputy Sheriff happened to be on the road that night. He made the traffic stop and a few minutes later his partner stopped us. We followed him to the Station and did witness statements. A couple of months later I got a subpoena to appear to testify for the plaintiff!!! Now I'm not saying that this clown had hired an attorney with a single digit IQ but then I really doubt he/she had read our statement. Certainly not the brightest Penny in the roll since I had used my "Business Address" which at the time was that of the Sheriff's office where I worked.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
So, Yes, sometimes there is a Cop around just when you need one!:D:D:D In this case Two.
 
To clarify, 42nd happened to be my quickest way home from the point where "Mario" left my tail, and there were lots of side streets for evasion if needed that would have been easy to hit from 75 yards back. I also knew that I was moving toward the officer who had been dispatched and was trying to make contact with him. This is what was going through my mind, so I was hardly trying to "stay engaged" with the guy (the reason I didn't close the distance at the red light). If I had wanted to engage him, there had been ample opportunity over the previous 10 miles that he had followed...

I knew I'd take some heat for the points mentioned above because those who weren't there can't completely understand the totality of the circumstances and it's impossible for me to convey every thought and detail. I do appreciate someone pointing out that a jury may not see it the way I did and that armed citizens are held to a higher standard. These things are very true and important to consider.
 
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u did good. i am always armed. always. im at work right now. armed. on the weekends when im just drivin around town in my truck i keep a shotgun or rifle in my gunrack on my trucks back window and my EDC on me... between the gun in the window and the occasional stream of chaw runnin down the side of my door i dont get tailgated much. :D


different story when i drive my little gas getter tho... people are jerks


some people woulda stuck dat gat out the window and let it ride sideways homie :rolleyes:
 

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