Would someone just randomly follow your vehicle?...longish, just have question

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9MMare

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Very oddly tonite, I may have been followed home from Thanksgiving dinner at friends. I wasnt followed from their rural home but I stopped in a small town at 7-11 to pick up milk before going home. I was alone.

I dont think I was followed from there but hard to say driving the rest of the way thru the small town and then onto a 2 lane highway. 5 minutes later I turned off onto another rural road. Shortly after that I noticed a car behind me. Not unusual.

However it was still behind me 4 miles later. I turned up my road and it did too. At that point I did what I normally do if there is any inkling I may have been followed....I turned off onto another road that goes thru a fancy development (in the middle of nowhere really). And then I turned into a cul-de-sac off that road that only has 2 houses on it.

Car was still behind me. I didnt stop of course and it didnt pull into a driveway but *I think* pulled over to the side of the road....hard to tell in the dark. It didnt follow me out of the cul-de-sac. It could have been someone actually visiting one of the 2 houses.

Would someone just randomly target a vehicle and follow it? For what purpose? It's not a fancy car, I dont think they could even tell who was in the car except it was just one person....they wouldnt know where I was going...home, a Thanksgiving get-together, anywhere.

But unless it was a big coincidence, it seems they were following me. I just cant figure out why?
 
I doubt that you will ever know for sure if the car was following you, or if it was just a coincidence. I don't know if you are male or female and have long hair or short hair. If you were in fact followed that wouldn't be the first time a single person in a car has been followed. Many people are totally unaware of situations around them and would never have realized another car had been behind them unless the other cars headlights became a problem. When I worked as a patrol trooper in the small town where I live, it wasn't unusual for our office to get complaints from people being followed. Crimes do happen to people alone in a car, especially at night.
 
Sounds like they were going to follow you home and then attack you in the drive or when you opened your house door. When you did the cul-de-sac thing they knew they were made and quit.
 
I don't mean to state the obvious, but unless a poster here was in the car that was behind you, I don't think anyone can definitively say whether you were followed or not, or, assuming you were, why. The important thing is that you were aware of your surroundings, and took a course of action that dissuaded them from further contact of any kind. Considering its entirely possible, even likely (it is a holiday, where many people have visitors coming and going all day), they were visiting someone in the cul-de-sac, I think its a bit on the paranoid side to naturally assume you were being followed home so that you could be attacked. in your driveway. Being aware is always good, but assuming the worst out of every conceivable situation isn't healthy, IMO, either.
 
Probably not randomly, but it is quite possible you inadvertently made them angry. Sometimes it doesn't take much.

Years ago I had someone follow me home, apparently for no reason. After some thought, I determined what may have caused them to do so.

I had been driving at night and noticed an unusual item by the side of the road. There wasn't any traffic to speak of and I was curious. I pulled a U-Turn and drove back to where the item was located. I stopped with the item in front of my car but I still couldn't tell what it was. I flipped on my highbeams and could finally tell that it was a mangled bumper.

Losing interest, I turned off my brights, turned back around and finished my trip home.

As I got close to home, I began to get the feeling that the car behind me was following me, but I dismissed it since I couldn't think of any reason for such an action. I realized that my hunch had been right when they pulled into the parking lot of the apartments where I was living at the time, flashed their highbeams at me and then drove off.

I vaguely remembered someone turning onto the road when I was examining the bumper with my brights. The only thing I can figure is that the driver of the car that followed me was that person and took umbrage at my turning on my highbeams "at him". That was apparently sufficient offense to cause him to follow me for several miles and then flash his brights at me to pay me back for the affront.

You never know what might set someone off. Fortunately my "shadow" wasn't interested in taking it farther than flashing his brights at me.
 
Thanks. It could be a coincidence, but that is why I went into detail about how rural the area is, and off the beaten path. It was miles of driving and then I pulled into a cul-de-sac with *2* houses on it. So yes, it could be coincidence but...?

I didnt interact with that car at all, I'm pretty sure. And they didnt drive aggressively or get on my bumper.

My question is more about what motivations...what crime... would there be for following someone, *seemingly* randomly, rather than if they really were following me...so that I could be better prepared in the future. For instance, why would someone want to attack me in my driveway if they didnt know if I had a fancy house or even if I was going home (on a holiday?)
 
Now this is very interesting.

A couple years ago, I had nearly the exact thing happen to me. And note the locations. Let's just say I was driving east from Redmond. I never found out why this person was following me, but I was absolutely certain it was not a "random person heading to a purposeful place".

I was NOT carrying at the time, but wow I sure wish I had been and thank God I didn't need to be.........if you know what I'm saying.
 
9MMare said:
But unless it was a big coincidence, it seems they were following me. I just cant figure out why?
Click to expand...

Honestly, if it's their heads you're trying to get into, then forget it. You'll never know why and it's a waste of your time trying to figure it out. Took me a long time to come to that conclusion about why my ex-wife did the things she did way back when. The ONLY answer that really matters is "they do the things they do because they think it will get them what they want".

That's the real, down-to-earth, practical answer to "why".


What really matters to YOU, however, are the events that lead up to this and your ability to analyse them to your advantage. Things like "where did they start tailing me", "what was I doing at the time which may have made me an attractive target", and "what alternate avenues did I have at my disposal to place myself in a safer condition"?


I'm glad nothing came out of this...but there are still valuable lessons to be learned for future use. Those are the things that matter, because you can't get inside the heads of those who would do you harm.
 
So my thought is what if it's something that I can be more prepared for?

Like, is there a new 'vehicle knockout game' that I havent heard about yet? Is there a rash of this stuff somewhere? If so, what do they do?

In that way, maybe I could be better prepared. Altho my favorite defense is avoidance anyway :)
 
9MMare said:
So my thought is what if it's something that I can be more prepared for?

Like, is there a new 'vehicle knockout game' that I havent heard about yet? Is there a rash of this stuff somewhere? If so, what do they do?

In that way, maybe I could be better prepared. Altho my favorite defense is avoidance anyway :)
Click to expand...

Good questions! I haven't heard of anything like this, though I HAVE heard of that stupid "knockout game" that seems to be going around in some places. (For those who haven't heard, this "knockout game" involves people committing random acts of violence intended solely to knock a person out. Like coming up behind and waylaying someone and then running off.)

A car is a pretty sheltered place, though it's quite possible for some weaknesses to be exploited. Almost all those weaknesses have to do with limited maneuverability. Keep your options open with respect to maneuverability and you've got a lot going for you. Avoidance is, indeed, the best defense.

Keep moving or keep yourself in a position to be able to move wherever possible. Make your destination someplace official, like a police station or extremely well lit and occupied/busy area of official importance, like a hospital ER, busy post office, and so forth. Most crimes are crimes of opportunity...do your best to deny them the opportunity and you'll very likely come out ahead.
 
Glad to hear that nothing came of this. Maybe they were up to no good - or not?

I can imagine a couple scenarios for this. Possibly the person following you knows or knew somebody with the same model/color car and thought they were following that person? Lots of people do what others would consider strange for reasons others couldn't understand.

When I was in high school - about 40 years ago - some guys I knew would follow other cars just to see how far they could do it without being spotted. People told them what kind of trouble that could lead to so they quit doing it - or at least quit telling us about it. Maybe kids these days have better things to do with their time and don't do this kind of thing? I dunno.

Could have just been mistaken identity?

If they had followed you for that far with some truly bad intent I would expect they would either have been better at it or had followed through.
 
Could be something. Could be nothing.

If I'm being followed I prefer to drive around a block. Make a circle. Something no one would follow. Every now and then i get followed, and do that, and every time they go away. Most likely they don't feel they've been made, most likely, they just happened to be going that way. But if someone ever is following me for some nefarious reason, it'll make it easy to tell.
 
A close relative had a being-followed situation defused by pulling into the Justice Center parking lot (city police station, county sheriff branch office, general courts, some other law enforcement and justice system offices).
 
Never drive home. Drive to a police station. Get the plate number if you can.
 
The only way to be sure you are being followed is to drive in a circle somewhere. At that point, I would call the police while continuing to drive. See if I could get them caught. If police response is not available I would drive to a police station.
 
Noticing a possible rolling surveillance (gettting followed...) means you're actually paying attention to the world around you... and that's not a bad thing. As noted above verifying that you're actually being followed is as simple as "boxing the block" -making a series of right or left hand turns that take you around a block or square of some kind to see if the follower stays with you. If you make four right hand turns and the vehicle is still there you've verified that you're actually being followed (there are several other ways to go about this, I'm keeping things simple). What you can't know until a confrontation occurs is whether the folks behind you have bad intentions.... and you can't assume that from just being followed.

Once you've verified that you've got a tag your next moves should be defensive and well thought out. My usual advice is to go to where there's lots of people while calling in a request for help from local authorities (in some cases a call to family members is an alternative if cops aren't available... but getting cops on scene is far preferable, always). What you don't want to do is head somewhere that has you on your own if a confrontation occurs. This might be nothing of consequence or it could be the prelude to something bad so reacting defensively is appropriate (in this case I'm not talking about armed defense or anything more than getting a police response to stop whoever is following, identify them, and see if there's anything criminal they can be arrested for...).
You also don't want to do any evasive driving, high speed stuff, etc. That sort of stuff raises the stakes and can wind up with a very bad outcome....

Lastly, a single incident isn't cause for worry -but it is cause to raise your awareness. For a few weeks after the incident make a point of increased observation whenever you're behind the wheel, and pay attention to traffic around your home or workplace. If there's a problem you may see a stalking pattern. Any evidence of that kind of activity isn't coincidence and needs to be dealt with. As always it's much, much preferable to have your local cops deal with whoever it is. In person defensive action should always be your last resort since the good guys don't always win in real life...
 
I've been behind other cars so long I was sure they would think I was following them. Down the highway, same exit, same turn at the stop lights and all the lefts and rights that I take going home.

It's probably a coincidence but good for you for noticing.
 
Yes, it can happen. First time another resident of our small town was dropping off a fellow coworker who's car was in the shop. My neighbor.

There's only three ways to get into our small town because of a creek and the lack of bridges. We follow each other all the time. You get used to it. In fact, you begin to be careful about that car in front or behind, regardless that they are driving 10 mph under, or have their high beams on for 5 miles. They might be seriously inconsiderate dweebs, but that doesn't mean they have hostile intent.

On the other hand, I've had testosterone challenged punks who think they were slighted and who made themselves look stupid with their girl friend in the car. Still better to keep it low key and be patient if they slam on the brakes and dawdle along in a 55 doing 20 to make some point, or who follow you for miles out their way.

It's one of the reasons why the Russians have adopted windshield cams and use them. They are getting cheaper and the priority keeps elevating. Be nice to show the arresting officer what really happened from your point of view.

With that in mind, should there be any record of an aggressive move on your part - from a traffic cam or one in the other car - it's not going to go as well.

It's a two way street. :uhoh:
 
Rule of RIGHTS !!

Standard practice to see if your being followed is to make 3 right turns,that is a circle and NO ONE would do that for any reason but to stay behind you.

This is a bodyguard/courier routine to avoid being followed.

Also used by LEO's as I did when so employed.

I was followed home from the station and that is how I decided if there was a 'addressable problem',yes there was and I took appropriate action.
 
Yep, circled right. Still there, then quick left and a car was coming opposite so he had to wait, RAPID acceleration for me, ducked into a hiding spot and watched him go by, then pulled behind him and followed him from a enough distance to see him try and find where he lost me. Enough of that, I then pulled up close behind him and he floored it and got out of dodge. I gave the license plate # to the local police, they recorded the incident, and that was that.
 
Happened to me years ago, late at night, while leaving a night pizza delivery job. I was giving the shift runner a ride home, but we were to stop at the bank first to make the night deposit (this was, per policy, normally done in two vehicles, but he did not have one that night.)

We were followed by a vehicle that appeared to be the same make/model as the store manager's, but we knew he was to be out of town at a concert. The other driver repeatedly sounded his horn and flashed his HB lights, but I did not slow or stop.

He abandoned whatever his mission was when I spotted a patrol car ahead of me, beyond an upcoming intersection, and ran the red light in an obvious attempt to catch up to it.
 
Sometimes you get followed for the oddest reasons. Or for no reason at all. Just being able to spot a potential tail is a good skill to have, whether it is a real one or not.

My wife and I visited an Army surplus store in a mostly black town that has been stricken by poverty and unemployment. All black customers and employees save for one white police officer looking at nothing really. My wife wandered into a back room that had lots of black tactical gear and vests. Before she could get a decent look she heard "That is for employees only!" We didn't purchase anything and promptly left. On my way out the door I noticed two black males enter a white Toyota pickup that was parked in the employee parking lot. Thought nothing of it. Until this truck followed us at a distance of roughly five car lengths for the next 30 miles of interstate, through 2 interstate changes. The second of which was a double back to head back toward the Army surplus store. Essentially a circle. I drove around the city to find a certain covered parking garage I pulled into and we walked into an adjacent health and organic store. I saw the same truck at least once while in the store. Couple weeks after I was talking to a police officer friend of mine, gave him the address of the Army surplus store. He told me the store was favorite gang hideout and possibly tied to the Black Panthers. After that conversation I started going into the city much better armed.
 
could be any number of reasons why this happened - not all of them are bad.

first, as others have said it could have been a coincidence. small chance, but you can't rule it out. did you get a description and license plate for the vehicle. just keep it. see if they show up again.

it could be a private investigator. maybe was watching you because they thought you were involved in something, or linked to someone they were watching. in which case when they realize their suspicions are wrong ... they will just go away.

it could be something related to crime, but if so they are just establishing your behavior. maybe seeing when you are in and when out.

there is no need to be paranoid. just step up your efforts to keep your eyes open, and note down details of any vehicles that dont seem to belong.

CA R
 
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