Dealing with threatening driver

Spinner77 · 12-10-2012, 11:39 AM

The wife's job sometimes involves very late hours.

She told me that last night driving home after midnight, a vehicle tailgated her for a while and then drove parallel with a couple of inches to spare.

Her reaction was to stay on the main road, which goes through a few well-lit shopping strips, rather than take the most direct route home which is less populated. This seems to me to have been a sensible thing to do. After a couple of minutes the other vehicle zoomed off at high speed into the distance. The experience rattled her a little.

What to do in this situation? She is a very good driver, better than me to tell the truth. An advanced defensive driving course for the mature aged? What do you think? Any suggestions in Melbourne?

Smoke Pursuit · 12-10-2012, 11:47 AM

Buy her a bigger car.

There's plenty of idiots on the road.... Some just love bullying women.

FGII-XR6 · 12-10-2012, 12:01 PM

if she has bluetooth with voice dialing keep driving and call the cops

Peter B - CV8 · 12-10-2012, 12:01 PM

Sounds as though she did all the sensible things. Here's what I'd suggest ;
- Check out the most direct routes to local police stations (even fire stations) that are on her usual way home.
- Make sure she locks all car doors when driving (via auto lock if fitted).
- Keep a notebook & pencil handy in the car for recording suspect vehicle details.

kaniSS · 12-10-2012, 12:04 PM

Do what my Mrs does and give them the finger and continue driving along not taking notice of them.

blueoval · 12-10-2012, 12:11 PM

Is it worth fitting a Go Pro video device for the late night trips home? That way it records with sound as to what is going on and hopefully the perp sees it and thinks twice.

DBourne · 12-10-2012, 12:17 PM

You can't stop idiots from being idiots unfortunately. Sounds like your missus did all the right things.

poppa smurf · 12-10-2012, 12:19 PM

note the closest police station that is on her route home and stick to that route

the bluetooth is a good idea with police on speed dial

this would be a 000 call I would suspect if it is frightening her that much, don't be afraid to use it

XBROO · 12-10-2012, 12:23 PM

I was serious hang one of them out the window, and I bet he takes of real quick. Anyway you are always going to have nutters out there, and all the common scense answers. Are not going to work if the person is completely nuts or is on some kind of drugs.

Unfortunitly it's getting worst and there is a lot more crimes against women happening. Probably by the sound of it she did the right thing, as if she tried calling the police or even try leading him there. Depending on how nuts he was, it could of spiked him into doing something be fore the cop arrive.

paule11 · 12-10-2012, 12:24 PM

If someone is tailgating me I change lanes or try to find somewhere to pull over . Dont want anyone like that behind me

mik · 12-10-2012, 12:26 PM

she did the right thing i think, there are for sure some looneys out there, best not to aggravate a possible unpredictable mental case,, i would add to that imo if she could get to somewhere there`s people and seek help and the police if possible.
my dear old mum struck a road rage looney, who traumatized her into a state from which she never recovered her driving confidence.

paule11 · 12-10-2012, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XBROO

I was serious hang one of them out the window, and I bet he takes of real quick. Anyway you are always going to have nutters out there, and all the common scense answers. Are not going to work if the person is completely nuts or is on some kind of drugs.

Unfortunitly it's getting worst and there is a lot more crimes against women happening. Probably by the sound of it she did the right thing, as if she tried calling the police or even try leading him there. Depending on how nuts he was, it could of spiked him into doing something be fore the cop arrive.

Bloke at work had someone pull a gun on him while he was driving he called the police took about 5 minutes for them to get there. the other car had teenagers in it they had a pistol from a video game he was still on the phone to the police giving directions when they pulled them over.

Vesper Martini · 12-10-2012, 12:35 PM

Its a tricky one, its like there are drivers out there looking for a fight.
I think she did the best thing she could,

XBROO · 12-10-2012, 12:40 PM

I suppose a bluetooth in a car would be handy in that situation as long as they don't know you're calling someone. But if it was a real nutter and they know you are callig the police. Then it's could go wrong, like you can't tell anyone if you're dead.

blueoval · 12-10-2012, 01:13 PM

Threatening violence against intimidation is not the answer. I would rather visibly show the person you are recording every move they make with a GoPro or a video device than aggravating the situation and wave a fake/real weapon around. (including club lock, tire iron, screw driver, or whatever)

Some of these weasels are looking for a fight and could be related to a gang of some kind and it could turn real ugly if you threaten them with such retaliation.

Having a recording device of some kind, pointing to it and smiling and then heading straight to a cop shop will soon sort out their bluff. Most people are afraid of litigation when evidence is stacked up high against them. If setup right, the footage is irrefutable.

Of course if someone was serious to do harm to you they will anyway, just saying, don't throw fuel on the fire. Think smarter and don't lower yourself to their level. (i.e. weapons)

**Mechan1k** · 12-10-2012, 01:21 PM

They may have mistaken her for someone else.

Still .. she did the right thing and was sensible as well.

cameras in the car are a good idea ... especially ones with GPS integrated into them (on-site cameras ones are good for that) ... so it gives specific information ... and the image quality at night is still excellent to get vehicle details as well.

XBROO · 12-10-2012, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

Threatening violence against intimidation is not the answer. I would rather visibly show the person you are recording every move they make with a GoPro or a video device than aggravating the situation and wave a fake/real weapon around. (including club lock, tire iron, screw driver, or whatever)

Some of these weasels are looking for a fight and could be related to a gang of some kind and it could turn real ugly if you threaten them with such retaliation.

Having a recording device of some kind, pointing to it and smiling and then heading straight to a cop shop will soon sort out their bluff. Most people are afraid of litigation when evidence is stacked up high against them. If setup right, the footage is irrefutable.

Of course if someone was serious to do harm to you they will anyway, just saying, don't throw fuel on the fire. Think smarter and don't lower yourself to their level. (i.e. weapons)

I don't know about making it obvious that you are recording them, but I agree with the rest of your post.

blueoval · 12-10-2012, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XBROO

I don't know about making it obvious that you are recording them, but I agree with the rest of your post.

Thinking about that post I wrote, maybe not gloat about it, but having the video recorder in a prominent and visible area should be enough to send the message across loud and clear.

Dusty1 · 12-10-2012, 02:01 PM

I've been followed when I was delivering food, I knew where the police station was and drove there and pulled up out front. The joker drove off. No idea what they wanted. Hopefully not to rob me, as I did have some dollars on me at the time.

As suggested, get to know where the nearest police station is. Bluetooth is an excellent idea. I am a bit unsure about letting them now they are on camera, they might not want that known, if you get my drift and it could cause more trouble than it's worth.

blueoval · 12-10-2012, 02:08 PM

I believe the camera is there to act as a deterrent as well as an evidence holder if your ever attacked. Like I said before, if thugs want to cause you harm they will anyway, with or without a camera there or not, but the smart ones will think twice about someone who is savvy enough to record their every endangering move which can be used as evidence in court if it went that far. Perhaps not be brazen about it (like I might have suggested before) but have it as proof of what took place and encountered rather than it being a 'he said, she said' debate at the cop shop.

2011G6E · 12-10-2012, 02:13 PM

As I used to tell my wife...if it truly is someone being threatening and not just some numptie tailgating as numpties will, don't go home so they know where you live...instead drive to the nearest police station/fire brigade/ambulance depot and drive up the driveway...that usually puts them off.

In a pinch, any large service station will do and park right outside the front door...cameras everywhere there.

Fiesta_Man69 · 12-10-2012, 02:40 PM

Drive to nearest cop shop. Never go straight home - if the idiot is psychopathetic they'll know where you live... there was a story about this on Sydney news a few months ago: daughter drove home so dad could take care of her and the bloke followed her and came back later on...

Unfortunately some people are so pathetic that if they are cut off or 'wronged' on the road they'll do truly stupid things.

zilo · 12-10-2012, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spinner77

The wife's job sometimes involves very late hours.

She told me that last night driving home after midnight, a vehicle tailgated her for a while and then drove parallel with a couple of inches to spare.

Her reaction was to stay on the main road, which goes through a few well-lit shopping strips, rather than take the most direct route home which is less populated. This seems to me to have been a sensible thing to do. After a couple of minutes the other vehicle zoomed off at high speed into the distance. The experience rattled her a little.

What to do in this situation? She is a very good driver, better than me to tell the truth. An advanced defensive driving course for the mature aged? What do you think? Any suggestions in Melbourne?

The other driver would have had no way of knowing if she was a female, so the assertions that she was picked on simply for being a female ...hmmm?

What about...maybe she did something to annoy the other driver like not indicate, not keep left talk on the mobile...???

Maybe the other driver was a female as well?

Some of the most aggressive drivers I have seen lately have been young ladies who think they are invincible...

Just a thought...that's all?

Dave3911 · 12-10-2012, 04:38 PM

I wouldn't be advocating driving for a fire station - just stick to driving to a police station. The OP is in Victoria, so depending where we are talking about there is a high likelihood is that the fire station will be a vacant volunteer station. Ambulance station will likely be vacant too - all the ambos will be ramped waiting at hospitals!!

Bluetooth, ring 000, drive for a police station. Best thing to do.

XBROO · 12-10-2012, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

I believe the camera is there to act as a deterrent as well as an evidence holder if your ever attacked. Like I said before, if thugs want to cause you harm they will anyway, with or without a camera there or not, but the smart ones will think twice about someone who is savvy enough to record their every endangering move which can be used as evidence in court if it went that far. Perhaps not be brazen about it (like I might have suggested before) but have it as proof of what took place and encountered rather than it being a 'he said, she said' debate at the cop shop.

You are right the camera would be good evidence, and it would deter 9 out of 10 people. But it's the 1 out of ten, that might want to get it off you and take extreme measures to do so.

grandpa_spec_F6 · 12-10-2012, 04:45 PM

Straight to the local cop shop, I also have a HD Dash Cam (true HD, not this 640x480 VGA interpolated crud peddled on ebay as HD for $30) so I can pull license plates off the video.

It also has GPS, speed etc so you can play back where you drove, when the incident occured etc, all while showing someone the video with google maps on the screen next to it.

It amazes me how some people (men in particular) think it's their god given right to 'educate' drivers by getting out of their car, holding up miles of traffic and go abuse the daylights out of the poor bugger who slipped up, saw this last night where a female P-Plater had a guy INSIDE her car.

This bloke had opened the door, put his body inside her car so he could abuse her face to face... miles of traffic jams ensued.

irish2 · 12-10-2012, 04:47 PM

The only time I have seen people get tailgated and or harassed was when they had done something wrong i.e. cut a person off. What the other driver did was wrong but he quite possibly didn't know the sex of the other driver as it was at night. Sometimes it is best to move left and let them on past.

blueoval · 12-10-2012, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XBROO

You are right the camera would be good evidence, and it would deter 9 out of 10 people. But it's the 1 out of ten, that might want to get it off you and take extreme measures to do so.

True, thats the risk you take, and the move they make AFTER they realise their a55 has been filmed doing what ever dubious activity they have done including unsafe and intimidating driving.

But tell me, what other LEGAL options are there to prove what has happened other than going to a police station to write down a statement?

Most women will be too shaken up to be quick with the camera phone, or a notepad to jot down number plates, or even dial 000 on the bluetooth, which in most states is illegal now to be activating while on the move. Things like this event happen so fast that when the event is done, you think back and say in heinz sight 'oh I wish I had of thought to take down the clown number plate'.

This is where a video device with a GPS tracker built in could record the time, location and more than likely the vehicles details as well as occupants picture to be used for the cops if needs be.

This video device is in no way a fail safe method for safety of the driver, and Im not claiming it is. As I have said before, if someone wants to run you off the road, side swipe you etc, they will do it regardless. But without proof or eyewitnesses as a minimum and actual details of the car and perpetrator, you got nothing and your just another statistic.

All Im suggesting is a method that will be legal and HELP DETER wrong doing. Just sitting there and copping it and letting punks like this get away with it with no proof is not a good legal solution either.

xisled · 12-10-2012, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XBROO

You are right the camera would be good evidence, and it would deter 9 out of 10 people. But it's the 1 out of ten, that might want to get it off you and take extreme measures to do so.

How would teh camera deter people, most people have a gps on the window and the in car cams look exactly like a gps. Unless you have a sticker on your back window that it big enough to see.

Not trying to be smart, just interested in your thoughts.

**Luke Plaizier** · 12-10-2012, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ugg

The other driver would have had no way of knowing if she was a female, so the assertions that she was picked on simply for being a female ...hmmm?

What about...maybe she did something to annoy the other driver like not indicate, not keep left talk on the mobile...???

Maybe the other driver was a female as well?

Some of the most aggressive drivers I have seen lately have been young ladies who think they are invincible...

Just a thought...that's all?

Curious that this is the first post wanting more of a 'big picture'. I find that most people on the road are pretty much OK, even the ijuts, until they get the red mist - and that the 'red mist' is usually triggered by some act of 'perceived' initiating action.

Ultimately, nothing excuses this 'other drivers' behaviour, but it sure would be revealing to get an unbiased account of what actually happened in the minutes before this incident occurred.

Lukeyson