Man dead in road rage incident

[MikeIsaj]

Was the car running or had the driver killed the engine?

Let's see, you're 17, you have been chased by an adult in a car, you are scared enough to call your dad for help, your attacker has hit you with the car, and you expect the kid to care whether or not the engine is running? Give me a break!

Let's for the sake of arguement say the engine is off. How long will it take for the victim to escape to safety after being hit by the car? Compare that to how long it would take to re-start the engine and run him down again. Doesn't make sense to me. The kid had a better chance of surviving a fight with the guy than being run down again.

You make a tactical decision based on your knowledge of facts at that moment. The time you have to gather that knowledge is going to be determined by the urgency of the event. In this case he knew everything he could be expected to know. The guy had made his intention to inflict serious bodily harm clear the first time he hit the kid.

 

[arizcowboy]

If that teenager would have been a cop, the driver would have been shot dead on the spot with no questions asked and it would have been a justified shooting within departmental policy.

 

[Working Man]

I hope all charges are dropped. The whole thing is ridiculous.

Besides it's not his fault the driver's head was so frail.

That makes me wonder if the driver had a medical problem...
...or the kid just hits like a jackhammer.

 

[RavenVT100]

53 is a little young to be mistaking a teenager for the farmer's market.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Not self defense unless the driver was going to try to hit him again. The defense attorney could successfully argue "heat of passion" as the 17 year old (and anyone else) would have been provoked by the actions of the old dude. What person would not be pissed if an attempt to run him over was just made?

 

[c_yeager]

He could also argue a reasonable assumption that the driver would attempt to run over him again since he had followed him so far and had already attempted it once. This is the same principle that has allowed "battered women" to shoot their husbands based on the expectation of future violence.