Wife threatened while driving her Volt

[Echo_Four]

The other side likes to yell at me in my hummer for wasting gas. It is what it is. My personal advice would be to ditch the car and get something else, you wouldn't have to worry about it and you wouldn't have to drive it any more either. Outside of that getting to a well populated area and calling 911 without even considering stopping is probably the best idea.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Hopyard]

The other side likes to yell at me in my hummer for wasting gas. It is what it is. My personal advice would be to ditch the car and get something else, you wouldn't have to worry about it and you wouldn't have to drive it any more either. Outside of that getting to a well populated area and calling 911 without even considering stopping is probably the best idea.

Why should he ditch a car his wife likes? That makes no sense. I've been followed even as a male driving
a V8 SUV. You just never know what is on the minds of some people, but what you drive is not the cause
of others bad behavior. Their upbringing is.

[QKShooter]

Or how about...I'm Not Using Gas So That There Will Be More For You.

I like that idea!

But, then again you might want to consider the fact that the electricity used to charge the VOLT battery is generated by coal fired electric plants and that great damage is done to the environment in the production of the Lithium used in the batteries which also require a great deal of energy and water to produce not to mention the strip mining of the planet in order to obtain the unusually large amount of Copper for the electric motor and when you couple that with the fact that A123 Systems Inc. - the electric car battery maker that received a $249.1 million federal grant recently filed for bankruptcy & now the VOLT batteries are likely going to be manufactured in Communist China known for having a total disregard for the environment....you might want to think seriously about selling the VOLT IF you can find a buyer for it before it becomes a very expensive lawn ornament.

[Eagleks]

Hummmmm..... it bothers me , that your first thoughts are about brandishing a gun at them, and thinking about how the gun would resolve your problem. She wasn't threatened by what you have said , and they in no way were threatening her life. So why in the world.... would you introduce a gun into that ? Maybe you or your wife should be leaving the gun at home, it's that the logic you are using ... before you end up in jail.

They were exercising their 1st Amendment rights, that's it.... that's all. It doesn't say they have to express their views of the Volt in a manner you find acceptable..... nor that they are restricted from expressing them.
From what's been said... they didn't take any action directed at your wife, they didn't try to harm your wife, and they made no threat to harm your wife.

On top of that, you are in the middle of "oil country" ...... you kinda going to have to expect some flack about driving a Volt there.

[QKShooter]

Use a 50,000 Volt Stun Gun on them and then when the Police arrive tell the cops that the bad guys got zapped when they touched the car.

[msgt/ret]

I really do not care what anyone drives although I do drive one of those massive gas-guzzling road hog SUVs the holier than thou eco-freaks love to hate. When I run into one and they start their tirade about how I am personally destroying the environment I just ask if their econobox greenmobile is capable of towing a 4000 pound bass boat or a 1500 pound trailer with a 3000 pound tractor on it and will it go through 6-10 inches of mud to get to the good fishing holes or to their horror of getting to a deer stand. I then inform them their vehicle is just as useless for me as their opinion is and let it go at that. As far as the OPs situation I agree, go to a well-lit area, call LEOs and let them handle the situation.

[9MMare]

They were exercising their 1st Amendment rights, that's it.... that's all. It doesn't say they have to express their views of the Volt in a manner you find acceptable..... nor that they are restricted from expressing them.
From what's been said... they didn't take any action directed at your wife, they didn't try to harm your wife, and they made no threat to harm your wife.

On top of that, you are in the middle of "oil country" ...... you kinda going to have to expect some flack about driving a Volt there.

That is acceptable? THe woman felt threatened...and men were acting like 13 yr olds in a 2000 lb moving weapon. The fact that they felt the need to 'express their 1A Rights' in a dangerous and threatening manner shows just how mature they are (& what their judgement is like). In the middle of 'oil country?" Really? No one else uses electricity there?

They are entitled to express their opinions. However since those opinions were legitimately perceived as threats....they may end up having to deal with the consequences of doing so.

The 1A is about protection from govt interference...not avoidance of consequences from private or other public entities.

[QKShooter]

I do agree that it is not smart to intentionally distract or harass another driver in a moving vehicle. Accidents happen that way.

[12smile]

Many years ago an old girlfriend described an incident where she was on a country road when 3 bikers were hasseling her. 2 got infront of her and slowed down and one tailgated her....She was a pacifist and they somehow must have profiled her accurately.

This was WAY before any Concealed Carry Reform (or reasonably priced cell phones) and in re-living / analyzing it...firearms never came into the discussion.

They wouldn't have played that game with me behind the wheel...but if they did...those weasels would have become a large pile of broken bones.

[CanuckQue]

You should drill her, so that she learns has to memorize partial license plate numbers. The situation was too tense to call the cops, etc., but I think they'd have appreciated a partial plate and a truck description.

[blitzburgh]

Get her a big bumper sticker that says "I'm saving my gas money to buy more ammo"

Down right hilarious and a must do.

-- I don't always post from my mobile but when I do, I prefer Tapatalk.

[adric22]

But, then again you might want to consider the fact that the electricity used to charge the VOLT battery is generated by coal fired electric plants and that great damage is done to the environment in the production of the Lithium used in the batteries which also require a great deal of energy and water to produce not to mention the strip mining of the planet in order to obtain the unusually large amount of Copper for the electric motor and when you couple that with the fact that A123 Systems Inc. - the electric car battery maker that received a $249.1 million federal grant recently filed for bankruptcy & now the VOLT batteries are likely going to be manufactured in Communist China known for having a total disregard for the environment....you might want to think seriously about selling the VOLT IF you can find a buyer for it before it becomes a very expensive lawn ornament.

Batteries are manufacturered by LG-Chem in South Korea (not by A123 and not in China), and production of the battery is scheduled to be moved to Detroit soon. That is a common misconception because A123 was originally supposed to be the battery supplier but GM decided their product wasn't good enough, which turned out to be a good decision. As for the rest of your argument about the environment.... I could argue with the finer points but I'm not going to for one simple reason: I don't care. We didn't buy the Volt because we are hippie tree-huggers, nor has anyone else that I know. We love the car and do not feel we have to justify it on some environmental grounds. What kind of car do you drive? How is it on the environment? Chances are you don't care either. So you don't feel you need to justify it any more than I should.

[archer51]

Turn off and get away from them. If they turn off too, then call 911.

[kelcarry]

My wife drives a 2012 Volt. So yeah, no doubt the Volt has a lot of political polarization surrounding it. I've driven it several times and one a few occasions I've had somebody say negative remarks to me in a parking lot, or something. But this evening my wife came home from visiting her mom and seemed a bit shaken up. She was driving down the highway right through downtown Ft.Worth and she said some men in a Ford dually pickup pulled up next to her and started screaming and cussing at her. At first she wasn't sure if they were even screaming at her but then she heard something about "think you're better than us because you don't use gas." or something to that effect. she said it was hard to hear clearly when driving 70 mph down the highway. So she knew it was her they were screaming at. Apparently this continued for quite some ways down the highway and she didn't know what to do. She was carrying her .380 pistol, but obviously pulling it out might not have been the best choice as they might have been armed too and it could have escalated things. Eventually they left her alone.

I've been running this scenario through my head. I'm not sure what I would have done either. Sure, you can call 911 but it might be a while before an officer can catch up with you. You can pull over on the shoulder and stop. But they might do the same thing and then what are you going to do? You could try to outrun them but driving 100 miles per hour down the highway isn't a good idea either. You can brandish your firearm, but they might take that as a threat and start shooting at you.

Since this is something that could certainly happen again, I suppose it might be a good idea to form a plan of action for the future. Any suggestions?

Incidentally, we've had 10 compliments for every 1 negative comment we get on the car. So it goes both ways.

Methinks you have covered this scenario with every possible detail that you can. Best plan of of action is the first reply and within those suggestions is the police department suggestion. Do not know how far away this might be, which could be a problem, but if it is somewhat nearby, you just head that way and forget about the idiot in the other car. I have had an incident where I was wrong and cut someone off and realized he was following me as I made my way home. As I entered my development he was still there so instead of going to my driveway, I passed by it and then made another loop in the development just to be sure of being followed and I was--I then headed for the police station and in a short bit of time, he was gone. I still "drove around" a bit to be sure and headed home, still looking out for the clown.
As far a the Volt is concerned, put me on the negative. Expensive as heck, probably will turn out to be unreliable junk from General American Motors or Bailout Motors (take your pick), and one question--where do you think the electric power comes from that powers the fuel up when necessary? Lordy lordy it is from a power station that is running on either that big bad ungreen fossil fuel or that very dangerous uranium stuff. Sorry for last somewhat unpolite comments--just cannot help myself.

[noway2]

I am a bit mixed on the question about stopping or not. If they decided to get violent and play demolition derby on the road, moving at highway speeds os much more likely to be deadly than at a slower speed or stopped. On the other hand, they could decide to get out and create a confrontation.

As I look this one over, the best choice seems to be drive carefully, possibly slow down a bit, leave the highway and head towards a populated destination which would have witnesses and probably be a deterent to the idiots.