Someone followed me home

[retsupt99]

Nexta' time, keepa' you mouth shut and drive away...plain simple advice from a plain simple man...OMO

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[gwlammers]

How would you have handled this situation if they decided to get out at the light and start a brawl? Would this be a situation in which it would be ok to draw and shoot?

1st - Don't allow yourself to get boxed in at a traffic light.
2nd - If you see them get out of the car at the traffic light, run the red light (as safely as you can) and proceed to the nearest police station.
3rd - Call 911 and alert the police that you are in route with BG on your tail.

[USA Pugilist]

If you are carrying, (or not), It's unwise to feed into possible confrontations like this by stopping your car, yelling etc.

I agree. And never flash your piece for intimidation purposes.
It's simple. If you feel that your life is in danger, this doesn't mean them shaking your car while your in it, then you must do everything in your power to defend it. If you pull out your weapon it should be to eliminate the threat nothing else.

Be CAREFUL, Be AWARE, be ARMED!

[digitalexplr]

As has been mentioned you would not be justified in pulling you gun to scare them off. If they had gotten out at the light and surrounded you, you step on the gas and leave. Your weapon must only come out to prevent serious bodily injury to yourself or another.

If you can avoid a confrontation, and in the incident you discribed you clearly could, you should avoid it.

You should make a report to your boss and the police. These idiots may decide to do something else stupid.

[Reborn]

Aw shucks........got to this thread way to late to give my nickel worth. Lots of good advice here.

[Slimz13]

Hitting a moving vehicle with anything is a violation in most cities.

I added some to this-
To dispatch: I almost lost control of my vehicle – I almost hit a kid from the impact of the snow & ice the people at (address) hit me with. A few minutes after I regained control of my vehicle they where driving behind me recklessly.

When I was a teenager I tossed a few snowballs at cars with some friends until one of them called the cops, the cops came and that was the last time we did that.

Sounds like a pretty painless way to make sure it stops. They'd probably get a casual visit from the local PD, verbal warning or some such. Either way i'd try and get that street taken off your route or leave the job as you said you intended to do.

In general, whenever someone starts a conflict - be it an argument, beef, general harassment, etc. it in essence becomes a competition between the two of you to see whos better at getting under the other's skin. The actual stated purpose of the argument really doesn't have much bearing in a situation as petty as this.

If you react - even if you verbally trounce them, you lose - and they win. They will have succeed in getting you as pissed off at them as they are at you. Add to that they succeeded in forcing you to lose your composure, even if it was only in a small way.
When they see that they can make you react even slightly, its like blood in the water - now they KNOW they can get to you.. they can make you react. From there it only escalates...

This is where a little acting skill comes in handy.. just smile and wave.
Not a smug, arrogant smile. Make it as genuine as possible. Let them know that you don't even consider them important enough to beef with. From there either they get further aggravated, typically doing something stupid that leaves them open to legal action; or they mutter a few more choice words, give up, and go on with their day.

Either way, you "win"

[riverkeeper]

They were not angry. You were just catching a ration from the group ... typical stuff for untrained young folks... trying to psyche and dominate you. Solo, none of them would've prolly said anything.

In order to dominate (kind of), ignor them, or do what Slimtz suggested, and smoothly move on.

All they need is a few hours with a choker collar learning to come, sit heel, stay and roll over. Can we still do that to other peoples' kids?

[ppkheat]

Punching the "gas pedal" = distance.

I am somewhat concerned about your route being repetitive, in other words, they know you go there daily and can plan on encountering you whenever they choose. You might think about: 1. Dropping that subscription address, 2. Bring a video camera, 3. Talk to the police

[TravisABQ]

+1 on dropping the subscriber.

If he wants subscription service he can move to civilization.

--Travis--

[Supertac45]

I would have kept my mouth shut, thus they get the win in their tiny winnie little scum bag brain.

[Muxtek]

You were just doing your job minding your own business. The boneheads decided to harass you. They were wrong, you were not. With that said, there would not have been a situation with a hostile carload behind you had you just ignored them. Not reacting is hard to do, but when the holster goes on the hip we have to forfeit even our justifiable attitude toward such behavior.

Everything I need to know about walking away from insults I learned from watching David Carridine on Kung Fu in the seventies. For the first 55 minutes of each episode he suffered each indignation with humility. When physically attacked, he left the yokels in a bloody pile.

[Southtexas]

Indeed, words of wisdom above, Ignore the morons, If it becomes a pattern of harrassment even after you ignore the morons, (meaning daily) notify your supervisor, and let him know you dont feel safe delivering on that block anymore, if you have already made a police report keep a copy of it in the car, in case they attempt to follow you again,

REMEMBER THIS IF SOMEONE IS FOLLOWING YOU AND YOU STOP AT A LIGHT,
if they get out of the car YOU WIN, IF YOU DRIVE AWAY!, Confront them you may win that battle but you will have lost the war.

Something I doubt would be the case in your situation because of delivery time, but if you are at an intersection and it is too busy to go through simply lay on your horn, people will start looking around and you will have more witnesses in case you do have to defend yourself. Buy some OC so you have different options, not saying OC would have been a good option there, but if you are at a light and can not go through at least you have one other alternative before using your pistol.

[BikerRN]

After reading the original post I elected to not read all the following post. If this has already been stated please forgive me.

You have the option of driving away or getting in to a confrontation with "unknown" subjects? Gee, I think the answer is very clear unless you like spending all your money on lawyers, DRIVE AWAY!

Biker

[willysonday]

I've never posted on this website before, but after reading this post I feel strongly enough to reiterate what most people have already said. If you are in your car, you are locked in a steel and glass shell that can be used as a 3-5,000 pound weapon with the press of a foot pedal. I've seen this before where 2 strangers in traffic would get a case of road rage, and when one person steps out of the car, the other feels obligated to get out and "fight like a man". If you're stopped at a light and somebody behind you gets out to confront you, put your windows up and lock your doors. The ONLY way he's going to be able to physically assault you is if he produces some form of weapon to break through your glass, i.e. a tire iron or baseball bat. Then, AND ONLY THEN, would you be justified in drawing your weapon, and ONLY IF YOU WERE BOXED IN AND COULDN'T DRIVE AWAY. You have a responsibility to try and avoid confrontations at all costs. The first question on a jury's mind would be "why didn't he just simply drive away?" Again, I think common sense would have to prevail here.

"The way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it." - Dale Carnegie

[dukalmighty]

It's almost june what are you doing with snow