Stupid or Civil? I had to draw.

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I agree with the philosophy that when you carry it is your responsibility to avoid confrontations at all costs. If the thought of people tearing around DUI and causing accidents bothers you, become a police officer.

If I ever shoot someone in self-defense, I fully expect the authorities to ask me what I did to avoid the confrontation. Blocking a roadway in order to force a meeting is not a defensive measure.

The other day a guy in a Jeep tried to merge in front of me from an on-ramp onto the highway. My only options were to slam on the brakes to 40mph or to continue forward at 60mph. There was a semi in the middle lane so I could just change lanes. The guy had to fall in behind me and took umbrage that I didn't slam on the brakes to let him in front of me. He followed me when I took my exit and stayed on me for five miles, long enough that I'd diverted my route towards the nearest police station rather than head home.

I didn't interact with this guy at all. I didn't look at him or give him any indication that I wanted to be involved with his self-created drama. Even still, I recognized that I had a responsibility to avoid a confrontation, since we weren't going to be discussing the weather. But I could just hear the cops asking, "why didn't you slow down and let him in front of you?" Fortunately he calmed down and pulled a U-turn.

Some people are unreasonable behind the wheel. If you don't have the authority to correct their actions, leave them alone. I am glad the cops agreed with you this time. Don't assume similar results in the future.
 
You did great!

Pulling your gun was justified and you showed great restraint by not shooting.

You heart was in the right place, you tried to warn the guy.
He was a drunken idiot!

As they say, "No good deed goes unpunished!"

Bobo
 
Saxon, it didn't sound like he blocked the other person in. It sounded like he slowed down to get an opportunity to talk with him. Blocking him in would have been a somewhat different story.

I am not a cop, but where was the cop that day, to tell that guy that his actions could kill someone who is often out on that particular stretch of road? Hundreds of years of common law says that civilians who aren't decked with badges can do most of the same things police officers do when confronted with a violent crime. Though this wasn't a violent crime, he did not involuntarily detain the man, as a cop has the power (not the right) to do in such a situation. There is nothing wrong with peacefully saying something to correct one's neighbor, if done prudently.

I'm nobody's mommy, either, but if I see some drunk hitting on a very unwilling girl, or some punk hassling an elderly couple, I will intervene. Badge or not, mommy or not, I am my brother's keeper, and so are you.

-Sans Authoritas
 
he said he straddled the road and blocked it so the genius couldn't go by.i mighta done the same thing but i'm not sure it would be the right thing.
 
MDeViney states:

I may be young, but I still live by the "old-fashioned" idea that looking out for the safety of others is respectable, even if it isn't the "norm" today.
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Very admirable, but read post #18 and see if that makes any sense to you.
You want to grow old, don't you? ......;)
 
But here's the other side of the argument. Even if some form of intervention would have been legal under the law, why is the correct answer always to be proactive?

I still believe that the best course of action (unless someone is being injured) is simply to MYOB.
 
Yes, it's good to avoid confrontations. However, in his case, not stopping the guy to warn him of the impending road hazards would have been reckless.

If it was just the drunk angry violent guy whose life was in danger, that would be one thing, and I'm one to let those kids of people take care of themselves. However, the farmer who stops in the middle of the road (I'll not comment on the wisdom of doing that in the fog) was also in danger due to the guy who was driving at an unsafe speed in such fog.

Sometimes, we do have to take a risk to protect others, and sometimes that risk is an unconventional and unexpected one.
 
You did what was NECESSARY.

Whether you're a brother
Or whether you're a mother,
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive...
darkdance.gif
 
good draw, good man, glad to hear everything turned out ok (you were uninjured, and the idiot went to jail)

+1 for you
 
You came out looking OK...

had you have shot him you would have looked like a road rager....in the papers and in court.

You are tooting your horn, you were just lucky...not smart at all.
 
Actually, I'm kind of disappointed with you. You should have stopped and ridiculed and laughed at the guy when he was stuck in the ditch.
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I wasn't going to rub it in, I hadn't intended for it to turn into a defensive situation for me.

Question: did you mention this to your lawyer, if the older gentleman retaliates later on? If the cop says, "no problem", I'd just want to cover ALL areas.
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No. after the deputy took the report and talked to the other guy he just checked my HCP and ran the #on my gun and told me I had done good and not to worry about it. he had the guy on the side of the road cuffed and I saw him take the bat of whatever off the seat and set it on the ground so that corroborated my side of things.

What else could you have done?
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In my eyes nothing. I didn't want to see the farmer get plowed in the fog.

So you used your truck to block the path of someone who was under the influence so you could go confront them about their driving? Sounds like you were asking for a conflict to me.
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I stopped to keep him from hurting someone including himself, I was very curtious about it and had no idea he was already 3 sheets to the wind at 8am.

You are not a cop.

Not your job to tell people how to drive. Guy turned out to be drunk. That's bad... but you didn't know that when you approached him with a gun on your person. As far as you knew he was just speeding. That is not justification for you to confront him with a gun handy.
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I was not trying to confront anyone. Is it wrong to provide friendly advise that could possibly save someones hide if continue on the path they are on. Yes I usually always do have a gun handy, but this guy didn't know that until he threatened my life. If our rolls were reversed I would have probably thanked him, not accosted him.

As far as blaming Chipperi for "pulling your gun on bad drivers"... give me a break. He pulled his gun on the guy that was threatening his life with a blunt object, not the guy that was driving in an erratic manner. The situation changed. He didn't see a guy driving recklessly and stop, thinking "This guy needs to be shot right now". He offered some friendly advice that would probably save the guys life and was thanked with a threat on his life.
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Thats exactly the way I'm looking at it.
 
The return visit for the DUI charges is going to be the icing on the cake,
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Nah. The icing is when he's payin' double-triple insurance rates and has restricted driving priveleges...and he's thought it through a little and knows that if he'd listened to you giving him good advice and fair warning to slow down on a farm road, that he wouldn't be in this mess.

:D
 
The classic problem of to help strangers by putting yourself at risk, to interefere or not? Many on this board will tell you it is not worth it. But only if could have lived with seeing your neighbor's 17 year old son splattered all over the road when drunken, bad driving, irrate guy had plowed him down. I would say you made the right call, and the right follow on actions.
 
Small World. I used to live in Piney Flats, Tennessee. Some of those two lane roads in the area are very narrow, with very sharp turns and blind corners even when there is no fog. Going the posted speed limit may not be safe on some of those roads.
 
The Tourist wrote:
Quote:
I still believe that the best course of action (unless someone is being injured) is simply to MYOB.

Agreed.

-Sans Authoritas
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Hopefully your neighbors don't take the same view of things if they see some strangers loading your stuff into a van.
 
Oaktown wrote:
Hopefully your neighbors don't take the same view of things if they see some strangers loading your stuff into a van.
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Oaktown, what The Tourist and I agreed on was this: It is better to avoid a conflict, or the escalation thereof, when a conflict is not necessary.

In the case of strangers loading one's neighbors things into a van, neither tenet applies. In this case, it is necessary to prudently investigate and, if safe (or at least proportionate to the risk that might be involved) to stop the crime.

I'm sorry that you horribly misunderstood us. But you horribly misunderstood us.

-Sans Authoritas
 
OakTown said: Hopefully your neighbors don't take the same view of things if they see some strangers loading your stuff into a van.
=======================

Hey...nothing wrong with stopping force - which is what stopping a burglary is about. However, what this guy did is "Initiate" Force - and only the police are authorized to do this.

What next...CHLs gonna' pull people over for not wearing a seatbelts?

NASCAR
 
NASCAR_MAN wrote:
Hey...nothing wrong with stopping force - which is what stopping a burglary is about. However, what this guy did is "Initiate" Force - and only the police are authorized to do this.
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Police are not morally authorized, (and should not be statutorially authorized) to initiate force any more than any un-badged civilian. If someone is doing something dangerous, he is the aggressor, and he has initiated the use of force.

No one may initiate violence. The use of violence is limited to neutralizing a threat, whether you are have a badge or not.


NASCAR_MAN wrote:
What next...CHLs gonna' pull people over for not wearing a seatbelts?
Click to expand...

I suggest we disallow cops from pulling people over for not wearing seat belts, and let the free market handle such stupidity by allowing insurance companies to do the completely just thing and deny medical coverage to anyone who is foolish enough not to wear his seatbelt while driving.

-Sans Authoritas
 
I used to work in a rural area and it is not uncommon to flag someone down to let them know about something important. Often because there was a cow in the road, or a pipe in the road etc. There are many times that I have been flagged down and said thank you. I have flagged people down too. They also said thanks. Heck, many times I was just flagged down to chat.

A polite warning is not a threat. He was in the right to wave the guy down and let him know that there is a possible danger ahead. Many people in "the city" do not get this. It is a simple courteous action nothing else. The drunk was the one whom escalated the situation when he responded with anger instead of "thanks, I'd hate to run over that farmer. I really appreciate it."

I wish I had more neighbors like you.
+1
 
The guy was speeding, on a 2 lane farm road, passing on a double yellow line all of this in (I presume) a heavy fog. That idiot was not only endangering himself but also the OP and perhaps whomever is coming the other way in that fog. He didn't know what was ahead in the fog and didn't care, and then when he got dressed down he got PO'd. I would imagine he would drive like that sober but here he is at 8:30 A.M. drunk. I'm not sure I would have done what the OP did, but here on my little 2 lane road probably would have. I don't give a damn if you dont value your own life but I do value mine very much.
 
I am no expert and do not carry often, but you were in fear of your life. I ash bat or ax handle can put a quick end to your life. I say you did good. You ended the confrontation and came away safe and thanks to you there is one less drunk driving on the road.
 
Wow! Amazing that so many of you think that Initiating Force is so justified.: what:

Well...good luck boyz...I'm sure that your paths will lead to your having an intersesting life: full of drama, arrests, courtrooms and jail.

Asta La Vista

NASCAR
 
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