*eurospeed951*

Well, I had a very eventful day yesterday. On Sunday I was able to attend one of my first PCA events. I have been a member for a while, but my car is always off the road. This event was just a small car show and an all you can eat crab feast. There was no way I could pass up Porsches and crabs. My girlfriend and I had a great time. There were about 25 cars and everyone was great. A very nice group of people.
On the way home from the event we were driving in light traffic down 123 when I looked up and noticed an SUV with in inches of my bumper. He was so close I could not see any of the front of his Toyota Highlander. I let off the gas, but never touched the breaks. He swung into the lane to the right of me. As he went to pass me he tried three times to jerk into the side of me and run me off the road. The third time he would have hit me if I had not jumped on the breaks. The SUV was now in front of me twice he locked up his breaks trying to get me to run into the back of him. I ended up behind him stopped at a stop light. At this point he decided to put it in reverse and gun it. I just barely got out of the way in time. I guess he had had enough after that and tried to speed away. I followed him onto the Fairfax Parkway for a few miles, while my girlfriend took down his license plate. He finally pulled off on a side street. I pulled in next to him and he jumped out of his car and ran up to mine. He started yelling at me about why I was following him. He was a skinny guy about 6’ with short blond hair. After yelling back and forth at each other I showed him I had his license plate number. That seemed to really upset him. As I went to drive away from him He tried to open the passenger door. We went in opposite directions. The worst part about this is that I called the police and they told me that the would not do anything. They would not even take a report. They said that if a cop did not see it first hand than they didn’t care.
Any ideas of how else I could peruse this legally. I would like to go as fare as I could that way before I take things into my own hands.

PCinDC

Legally, nope, no idea, but these jackasses around here in their friggin SUVs need a lesson.

Maniac. Probably hopped up on speedballs.

My suggestion would be a crowbar to his windows.

Or a switchblade to the tires. Thats probably easier, more expensive to repair and less likely that you would get caught.

Surely you can get his address from the license number right?

Luis de Prat

Sorry to hear about that. Must've been scary. Road rage is a terrible thing. Hopefully, next time you'll be in the Cayenne, eh?

AndyK

That sucks!
Too bad you didn't use it as an excuse to test the top-speed of your car!
"Officer...there was a maniac after me, so I gunned it!" Your wife would have backed you up, and you had the guy's license plate.

I hope an SUV would have no chance of catching you without wiping out on the first turn!?

tim944

Man! I can't believe the cops wouldn't do anything. I had something similar happen to me here in Colorado. A guy lost it in a ricer going +100mph over a rise in the road and almost wiped out my wifes car. I called the cops and they asked if I wanted to press charges or just have them go over and scare the crap out of the guy. I chose the scare tactics, they thanked me, and then went over and took care of it.

Paul T.

Why do you find it necessary to label everyone who drives an SUV a jackass? I own and drive a very big SUV (GMC Yukon XL) and I am a very courteous driver to others. I guess just because someone drives an SUV that it automatically makes them the jackasses of the road? I have seen more jackasses driving other types of vehicles and doing very stupid **** than SUV drivers, but because they are in a car, they are not jackasses are they? It's not fair that you label drivers because of what they drive, that is called stereotyping, and it is wrong. I used to think people that people that drove expensive sports cars were rich, stuck up, arrogant ******. But now that I own one, and I know many people that own them, I have learned that I was terribly wrong. End of Rant.

PCinDC

ummm...Paul T - I meant no offense to you and am somewhat surprised you took my comment personally.
I did note "jackasses around here" (DC area), noticing you are in CA. While in the grand scheme of the Universe, that is right next door, in this context I don't think it applies.
Come drive for a few days on 395 or the beltway and then tell me what you think of 99% of the SUV drivers on the road AROUND HERE. While eurospeed's story is scary, it's not as rare as one might think. Most of the jackass SUV drivers I've come across (including a jackass in an excursion with a license plate that read SIZ MTRZ - compensating for something I wonder?) are mostly innattentive, altough a good portion seem to suffer from the King Of The Road complex - which in my eyes, yes, does make them Jackasses.

Also, with gas prices the way they are in CA, why would you want to drive a huge gas guzzling SUV?

Paul T.

I don't drive my SUV everyday, in fact I only drive it occasionally on the weekend when we load up the family and take them somewhere, most of the time it just sits. I know you stated "around here" in your wording, it just bugs me alot when folks start bashing SUV's. I know that there are real ******** that drive them and make a bad rep for the rest of us. After so many discussions that have been conducted about SUVs and how "evil" they and their drivers are, I kinda have a chip on my shoulder about the whole topic. I apologize Paul, I shouldn't have taken it personally. If we ever get the chance to meet somewhere at some kind of get together, the first beer will be on me.

James86-951

I'm sure Michelle has a better knowledge base than I, but here in the state of GA if he had threatened you with a weapon. That is simple assault. (Misdemeanor) If he said he was going to blow up you car or something to that nature it is called making terroristic threats. (Felony)

Here in Atlanta we have to deal with the suburban housewife assault vehicles as well. Many of them think they have the same capabilities as the little bimmer they traded out of. I think that may be why there are so many rollovers.

Finally yes, many of them do have the King of the Road mentality.

PCinDC

Paul T - Deal!

But the second one's on me!

MichelleJD

You can call the State's Attorney's Office and ask to press charges. Just remember, it's their discretion to do it. If they say "no," there's nothing you can do criminally. You can go after the guy civilly (tort law), but it costs $$ with little return. Sorry.

DangerIslandII

press charges for what? I'm confused about what he did to you that you can actually file a complaintabout? Being an ******* isn't illegal and even if he was harassing you on the road, without damaging your car, what would you be sueing him for?

DerSchlechtSpecht

If you know where he lives you can put a mothball in his gas tank!

Christian

Z-man

I've had my share of maniac drivers here in this wonderful state of New Jersey. (Mostly they were lost New York drivers! )

One story sticks out: Colonial Rd. Franklin Lakes: 35mph speed limit. I'm doing 30mph (just turned the corner), and this BMW 5-series cuts in front of me. All I did was a 2 second beep, to let him know that it was a little too close for my comfort.

Next think I see is a coffee cup flyin' through his sunroof: I was going slow enough to stop before any of it hit my car! Most of it landed back in his car, without the cup!

He proceeds to stop in the middle of the road, get out, and start yelling at me! At one point, he tells me to roll down my window. I simply replied, "No way." as I proceeded to take down his lic. plate & car info. Perhaps I should have gotten out: if he would have struck me, then I would have had a case. (Is that worth it? NO WAY: I don't like pain! But a BMW 5-series sure would look nice in my driveway!!)

He got back into his car and left. I'm sure his car smelled of coffee for weeks...hehehe

Called the police, and they said the same thing: they couldn't press charges, but if I wanted to, I could go against him in a civil suit, which involves lawyers, $$, time...etc.

IMHO, the BEST thing to do with road rage folks is to slow down, and get away from them. Speeding up will just intice them more, and engaging them can cause some damage to you, your car...etc. Aviodance is the best bet. Let him go home and beat his wife, instead of bashing your car. (Disclaimer: I do not condone wife beating). If at a light, indicating that you're using your cell phone to call 911, and writing down their lic. plate & car info usually works to get them away from you too.

It is always better to be safe than to let your anger control your actions.

Getting off my soapbox,
-Z.

Z-man

...and if my post above doesn't work, I've got some friends in Paterson, NJ that are willing to go on a field trip!



-Z.