Car following you late at night - what to do?

[sm]

Then again I knew a UC LEO that was on a motorcyle whom went around the steel posts to keep motor vehicles off the walkway bridge at a city park.

Big SUV with the BGs following - could not.

Again...Strategy and Tactics always begins with the brain - not equipment.


Slow Down! This ain't no neighborhood! This is a Residental District! - Richard Pryor

 

[Manedwolf]

The tactical side of you says to find a cul-de-sac, turn around, block off the road in front of them and draw - but that obviously won't work for legal reasons.

That's the side for people who make up and hum their own theme music.

Know where the police stations near your home are. Drive to one or a manned fire station.

 

[Alex45ACP]

Car following you late at night - what to do?

Lose him.

 

[Tokugawa]

you all urban dwellers or what? Around here I have to drive a long way to get to a fire station, cop shop or any other place with people. I told my daughter if she is being followed and she is coming home and KNOWS we are home (I am always home), call us, come down our drive with horn on and I can garantee there are going to be some armed folks,with big bright lights and inquisitive natures waiting.

 

[sm]

Rural Areas

Yes Rural areas do present the need for the need for different skills in awareness, strategy and tactics.

I fully agree, and can full empathize as I have BTDT as well...

I used to travel at night, less traffic, cooler in summer months, etc...

I have lived in rural areas and when married the concerns of her being called in or coming in from being "on call" were concerns.

I myself have worked graveyard and had to answer on calls...

What really really sucks?? Someone that lives in a rural area, attends a College with NO CCW ON CAMPUS , then works the late shift in the city and has to come in from working until Midnight, 1am, 2am...

Think about a daughter, or wife , doing this.

Cell phones are great ---Except we didn't have cell phones back then.
Then again many of us grew up without 911 as well...

Cell phones today - still the Campuses around here have NO CCW on Campus. Still daughters, wives, GFs...and the males too, having to attend classes from Rural Areas work the late shifts and so forth and get back home.

I am a male ...I get really sick and tired of all the males " well by gawd , I pull my Rice Burner / Stump truck and pull my Super Duper Tricked Out Testosterone High Cap Bling Bling Blaster and ...

Cemetaries are full of Stupid Folks pretending to be Heros.

No wonder Kipling wrote the female is deadlier of the two species...

Ladies have only brain to think with and it is bigger than the one most guys choose to use...

So for these ladies, I suggested a Simplex lockbox for vehicles, No keys, no batteries, just a solid lockbox bolted into the vehicle and NOBODY is to EVER know they have one. Loose lips sink ships.

Then a trusted person, such as myself, a relative, or business owner ....

The gun is placed in this persons care while on campus, retrieved (gals had keys and alarm codes to access my and other trusted places ) and then they were able to travel to and fro rural areas with a firearm.

One such business was a Mom & Pop Gun store...I knew he had daughter attending the College, and we talked as he was concerned about her...he gladly offered up his services. I simply asked. We did this for a few trusted folks, most often customers, and those he/ we knew had taken CCW (assisted with) and therefore were aware of thier Maturity level , skill and training.

Pretty simple as he had a another business, not gun related, so this is where the set up was for folks to put guns. Another was a Mom&Pop grocery store...Small , discreet...strategy and tactics do not have to be elaborate.

Cummunication is the key. So they called and let folks know if normal schedule changed and would be heading back at a different than normal time.

Brain, strategy, tactics learned , practiced and built upon.

Rural areas, farm roads are great to learn defensive skills. Really nice if a trained LEO shares or daddy sends you to a driving course.

Firearms are only part of the tools, physical tools such as guns, vehicles, knives, cell-phones, canes, pepper spray...

No tool is ever any better than the operator of said tool.

Rural two lane blacktops do not have places open, volunteer Fire Depts, LEO substations or lighted areas ...UNLESS you get close to a freeway and the truck stop / convience store areas are set up there.

Two miles down the road it is dark, that good looking cute thing that bought gas at 1am so she would not have to at 4am leaving to hit 0530 clinicals for nursing school...

That shift worker just coming in at 3am called in for an emergency...illegal eyes noticing his money as he bought a half a gallon of milk for his kids...

Around here the BGs are going to small towns and stirring up trouble. We had a drive by shooting in a small town the other night.

Not only did they drive by once - they turned around and let loose again on a crowd.

From the bigger city...just went to that smaller town and did a double drive by...



Strategy & Tactics.

Not Hollywood is gonna save me.

 

[leroy]

Headed home from work one night. Some mean, drunk looking guys in a blazer or bronco began running up on my rear like they were going to ram me and pulling up beside me shouting obscenities and flying the bird. By now I'm in the sticks (where I live) on a five mile stretch of road with no other roads of any kind to turn on. So its a race. little 4x4 against a grand am. I can barely see their headlights when I cross the junction onto the dusty gravel backroads and lost them in the boonies. took the long curvy way home. hid the car behind the house in the dark. sat behind a tree beside the road for 2 hours just in case. never seen em since. And yes I was concealed carrying. local police (the county) are stretched thin, and firestations are volunteer. Out here you better be carrying, know the backroads, and be aware of your surroundings, and have a plan.

 

[Hemicuda]

As i said... 3rd time... get a real vehicle... something that can run... either a car with some balls, or a dependable 4x4... then get the heck outta there... there aren't many vehicles/drivers capable of staying with me on a cross-country 4x4 run... get the heck out... go somewhere they can't... or outrun them...

 

[bogie]

The tactical side of you says to find a cul-de-sac, turn around, block off the road in front of them and draw - but that obviously won't work for legal reasons.

Won't work for a lot more then legal reasons. Been playing too many video games, watchin' too many B-pictures lately?

Disengage, disengage, and disengage some more, until _they_ force your hand. Do not force theirs...

Now... I drive a little Mitsubishi Mirage and a 3/4 ton chevy van... The van will pretty much do anything a 2wd truck will do, with the bonus being the handy radiator ram that stays in the hitch receiver... Darn, it hurts when you bang your shins on it tho...

The Mitsu is pretty nimble - More of a dodger than a runner tho.

Go around 'em, or go through 'em, just so long as you get away from 'em. You don't have to drive like nascar either. The speed limit is fine. Just know your vehicle and how it handles.

 

[Jon Coppenbarger]

I have had a few of those kind of things happen. A few I will never ever tell anyone about and a few I will. If you have a choice do what the others have suggested as it may save your life. If you do not care then do what you wish but always remember you should pick your spots and not theirs.

Sometimes you just have to be firm. Maybe it was not the right thing to do but in one of the cases I will tell you can see it may of been the only choice I had.
The first one was down on the sac river back in the late 1970's. Winter and it was raining. I liked to Sturgin fish all night but when I got tired I just slept in the back seat of my car. like always I carry sometype of weapon and usually several. Usually you had somebody around but on the week nights you may be there by yourself once in a while. Around 3 in the mourning a car came by me real slow and went down to the dead end and parked. After like 10 minutes they went past me and back up on the road and left. I put my boots on and jacket and made sure my 9mm was cocked and locked as I knew it would be. Around 15 minutes later they came back and did the same thing but this time they parked like 50 feet behind me and turned their lights off.

Now what in the hell would 3 guys in a old 65 or 66 impala be doing things like that at night if it was not for evil purposes. I knew I was going to leave after the first time but had not gone yet. I got out of the car with a weapon slung in the ready position with my finger on the trigger and swept it right past them and walked right between my car and theirs. I went to the front of my car so it was between me and them. I was sure they would reconize the weapon and it must of made them change their mind seeing it and knowing that 100 rounds of 45 acp may ruin their night. After they left I packed my pole and lantern and split also. Never went back alone to that place.

I have had like 4 others that I could tell you about but it would bore you and actually a few of them were pretty funny to see the look on their faces when things did not go the way they had planned.
I have not had any bad experiences in the last 25 years or so but I am very carefull where I go and what I do.

Take the others advice and do what is safe and do what you need to do and there is thruth to the saying I have always had. If you do anything do not do it close to home and that means like the others have said DO NOT GO HOME or someplace where they now know where you live.

 

[Tokugawa]

Why not go home, if you are close? You know the terrain, the house, the nieghbors , there may be reinforcements there, and if they really want your address, they can get your plate. I realize they could come back later, but the idea is to save your life NOW.

 

[johnnymenudo]

Never get out of your car unless it doesn't run or unless it is on fire. As long as it still moves never exit the vehicle. Call 911, drive to a police station, firehouse, anyplace public.

 

[oilman]

This happened to me a few months ago. I was driving home at about sunset when a car pulls in behind me. The driver started honking his horn and it looked like he was yelling. I turned right four times and determined he was following me. The chase was on through the neigborhood.

Our neigborhood had a patrol contract with the county deputies. Relying on the city police department is foolhardy as their response time can be very long. I use my cell phone to call the county deputy dispatch. She tells me to stop so the deputies can find me.

Instead I told her to have the deputies meet me at a well lighted place nearby. I then gave her the address. As I pulled into this prearranged meeting place I was met by two patrol cars. At that point the guy chasing me decided to break off the chase and high tail it out of there.

 

[smince]

Back in my early days, such as during the story I related before, I used to carry my 1911 condition 2. Sometime during this event I moved it to condition 1 and have never looked back. There were just too many things going on for me to have to think about cocking the hammer, holding the light, etc.

I leave for work about 4:15am every morning and drive about 25 miles to work. During this commute, I pass one volunteer fire station (seldom anyone there), and two convenience stores on the way to work. Nearest PD is about 6 miles the other direction on my route. Cell phones make things safer, but my sister's husband is a deputy, and two to three cover the entire county on the night shift. Most small town PD's here only have one officer on shift at night. I very rarely see one or more on my commute unless there is already a major problem they are out trying to solve. Fortunately the crime rate here is very low, but stuff happens. I know for some, driving to the PD/FD/24hr Store is not an applicable solution.

 

[bcolorado]

Here is a story about Robert Harlan who shot and abducted Rhonda Maloney from the front lawn of a police station. The story is from a good samaritan who drove Rhonda Maloney to the police station.

http://www.aware.org/success/singlemom.shtml

 

[sturmruger]

I think the best place to end up would be a big gas station. They usually have 5-6 cameras covering the gas pumps at any one time and there are tons of lights. I have never had this happen to me, so I can't say for sure what I wouild do, but I think the Conveniance store would be my first plan.

 

[Sheldon J]

As i said... 3rd time... get a real vehicle... something that can run... either a car with some balls, or a dependable 4x4... then get the heck outta there... there aren't many vehicles/drivers capable of staying with me on a cross-country 4x4 run... get the heck out... go somewhere they can't... or outrun them...

I drive a big 4X4 19" rims, heavy push bar, the wife (some times I) drives a 300 SDL MB, one day we were driving up a off ramp, posted speed 35mph guy in big PU trying to dust my rear bumper, I see red and say "@%@ tailgater lets see what this euro **** will do," at 55 I look in the rear view and he is over the fog line almost in the dirt trying to stay with me, it is then that I realize that the Bentz is not even complaining yet so I hit it and come out at 85. I slow down to the speed limit at the top and watch the rear view I'm almost a mile down the road before he makes it out. I wonder if he will ever try and tailgate anyone like that again.

 

[solareclipse]

pull over somewhere making it clear that for the other car to do anything, they have to actually pull over after you. this way you leave space between you and them and prevent a flyby robbery or a block.

the longest i've followed someone because i was actually going someplace was over 30 miles. i am sure that person was freaked out at some point. and the thought did cross me i was following them but it's not my fault i had to go run my errands so i didn't make the effort to back off.

 

[cbsbyte]

Easy answer drop the tail gate, and open up on them with the .50 cal.

No the correct answer is pull into a well lighted, area with other people. Such as a gas station.

 

[trickyasafox]

my first choice is call the police and have them come to me or meet them in a well lit public area. if thats not an option however, i'm not sure what i would do. pretty much all business by me shuts down by 10pm, and the bars close at 2am, so if this really is a late night adventure, there is no one out and about for help.

im definatly not leading them near my home thats for sure. the last thing i want is predators to now have access to my family, as well as myself. even if i have my family there locked and cocked to scare them off, they then know where i live, they can come back whenever they feel the need, and eventually if they are determined enough they'll have an advantage.

i really don't feel a 24hr gas station would be much better either. maybe i'd drive to the local hospital. police are always there, always activity, and if you fly up to one honking the horn someone is gonna be out front expecting an emergency.

 

[Taurus 66]

Install small hydraulic lift kit and wire up 10 - 1 million candle power lights to the underside of your trunk lid. At the appropriate time, press that there yellow button, which pops open the trunk and the lift kit will raise it up. That there red button? Well that's a real doozy. BLIIINNNG!!! Instant 10 Million candle power in his face. heh

I bet he stops following you after that.

 

[c_yeager]

The tactical side of you says to find a cul-de-sac, turn around, block off the road in front of them and draw - but that obviously won't work for legal reasons.

Tactically speaking, it is a bad idea to cut off your enemies line of retreat, doing so puts you into the battle of the bulge, and your playing the Germans. A running enemy is a lot easier to deal with than one who is going to fight to the death.

 

[jagdpanzer347]

Here's something to consider: if you choose to try to evade your pursuer, it will help to have fuel in the tank. Never let your vehicle's tank drop to less than half full. I've never had this happen to me and hopefully never will. If it does, hopefully I'll be driving the 5.0 Mustang and not the 2.0 Sentra.
In a rural type situation with no help available, I'd go down as many gears as possible, drop the hammer and wave bye bye. If their car is as fast or faster, the .40 caliber solution might just come into play. Stay alert, stay alive.
-jagdpanzer

 

[old4x4]

"Install small hydraulic lift kit and wire up 10 - 1 million candle power lights to the underside of your trunk lid. At the appropriate time, press that there yellow button, which pops open the trunk and the lift kit will raise it up. That there red button? Well that's a real doozy. BLIIINNNG!!! Instant 10 Million candle power in his face. heh"

Had to do a somewhat abbreviated version of that once. Some f*ckwit was following me for whatever reason (so long ago, I don't remember why), almost touching my bumper several times. Out came the 1 million candle power spotlight. Never saw him again. A face full of that (at night) put an end to his BS...

 

[rnovi]

Drive to the nearest LEO station, fire department, donut shop or local Starbucks.

PS: something for women to know: just because a car behind you puts lights and sirens on does NOT MEAN YOU HAVE TO STOP IMMEDIATELY. If you have ANY concern whatsoever about the vehicle behind you, you CAN call 911 or your local police hotline and ask them to verify that the vehicle behind you is indeed an officer and that you are indeed being legitimately pulled over. It might guarantee you a ticket or an irritated officer, but your life is a helluva lot more valuable than a ticket.

 

[CubDriver]

I had this occur to me while I was in High School. It turned out to be people I knew, but I didn’t recognize the van as they had acquired it from some one else and were finding people they knew and tailgating/following them with the intent of freaking them out.

As I was driving back home at night, a can began to follow very closely and flashing their brights. I thought they wanted to pass and made the error of turning into the elementary school parking lot to let them by (one way in, one way out). When they pulled in behind me and blocked the entrance with the van, I freaked. I luckily had a 4x4, and made tracks down under the covered commons area, across a soccer field, through the playground, down a path, and into a cul-de-sac behind the school and bolted. I called the police to explain what happened and they went to investigate. Next day at school the buzz was how these five guys got busted by the cops when their 2wd van became stuck in the playground behind the school, they never knew I called the cops.

Since then I have formulated a better plan to deal with a situation like this.