What would you do: Guy the car behind me made gun hand gestures at me repeatedly

[Anonymous]

This guy sounds very unstable in my opinion, so I would just completely ignore his crazy a%# since you do not know what he is truly capable of.

The fact that he pointed directly at your child shows that he isn't playing w/a full deck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should have made "I have a grenade" motions towards him. Hold up your hand, pretend to pull the clip out with your teeth, then LOB it in his general direction.

Always one up.

LOL. I needed this laugh.

[Anonymous]

Sorry OP that would have shaken me quite a bit. I think that is different to make a violent gesture than your average road rage stuff like a middle finger or something (still rude!)

If it were me I'd be just like you - unsure what to do. I think it's fin eif you report it though.

[Anonymous]

I would report. That was clearly a threat. Yeah, there are a lot of assholes out there, but that doesn't mean we should live in fear.

[Anonymous]

Just yank out your Glock 17 and rack the slide once. Then tilt your chin up and ask "what's up?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a f#cking loser. I'd probably memorize the license plate and report it to 911 later in the day.

He needs a visit from the cops to straighten him out.

This would not be an appropriate response. The appropriate response would be to ignore. But if you really felt like you MUST call the police, use the non-emergency number. I'd want you arrested if you called 911 for this.

Oh Christ. Arrest the mom? That will teach her to be safe, good thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This guy sounds very unstable in my opinion, so I would just completely ignore his crazy a%# since you do not know what he is truly capable of.

The fact that he pointed directly at your child shows that he isn't playing w/a full deck.

Do you have kids? Ignoring what appears to be a direct threat to yourself and your kids isn't "ignorable". It is immediately actionable.

[Anonymous]

I would just simply ignore him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was driving with my two kids in a 25 mph zone and took a turn slowly because I had a big plant in the back of the car and I didn't want it to tip over. It wasn't super slow, but apparently it was slow enough to piss off the guy behind me, because right after the turn we were stopped at a light and he made a gun shape with his hands and fired at me twice. Then, when the light turned green, he pulled around me and pointed his finger gun at my 9-year-old (who was in the passenger seat). That was the end of it, but I'm still thinking about it, and wondering if I should have taken down his license plate and called the cops. Thoughts?

seriously OP? so he made a hand gesture that you didn't like. do you also assume that the middle finger means someone is going to try to *uck you?

please stop being childish.

[Anonymous]

This thread cracks me up! The amount of people who get sooo outraged by a hand gesture is crazy! Grow up people! Not everyone is nice..... hell I'd say most people are not. You should be worried and complaining when they pull out a real gun. Until then move on the world doesn't revolve around you and your hurt feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a f#cking loser. I'd probably memorize the license plate and report it to 911 later in the day.

He needs a visit from the cops to straighten him out.

This would not be an appropriate response. The appropriate response would be to ignore. But if you really felt like you MUST call the police, use the non-emergency number. I'd want you arrested if you called 911 for this.

You're a lunatic.

This is exactly what 911 is used for in most major localities. In DC, 911 is the general government services number for ANYTHING that may involve the police, fire department, and paramedics. This would include noise complaints, getting an illegal parked car towed, etc. It goes through 911 because that's where the city can track and keep records of all requests.

No, the man did not commit a crime. But he did make a threatening gesture to a mother and a child. Most cops I know would be happy to drop by and give the man a stern lecture on his front porch about appropriate behavior while driving.

Do you live in Mayberry, where everyone has a front porch for Barney Fife to stand on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a f#cking loser. I'd probably memorize the license plate and report it to 911 later in the day.

He needs a visit from the cops to straighten him out.

This would not be an appropriate response. The appropriate response would be to ignore. But if you really felt like you MUST call the police, use the non-emergency number. I'd want you arrested if you called 911 for this.

Just an FYI re: 911 vs. non-emergency...I parked my car in my work parking garage one time for a quick weekend trip and while I was gone someone smashed into my bumper and side of car. When I got back days later and spoke to insurance, they said I had to file a police report, so I called the non-emergency number. Non-emergency would not take down any information and required me to call 911 to report the hit and run. From there, the cops had to come out and go through the motions to file the police report. I was pretty embarrassed/sheepish when they arrived since I had to call 911 for a hit-and-run that probably happened days before. I was in no imminent danger, but that was the process that I was told to follow. The cops were also rude and annoyed (understandably annoyed, IMO as I'm sure they had more pressing things to do).

Long story short, if OP felt threatened, she has every right to call 911. There will likely be no recourse, but saying you want her arrested for making the call is absurd. That's not for you to decide, it's for the police. Also, every neighborhood listserv I've ever been on has had messages from local police telling residents to call 911 at the sight of anything suspicious or out of place (even if it's just someone walking down the street that doesn't seem quite right). From there, the police decide what's an emergency or what isn't.

Where was this? I am a 911 Dispatcher and we take turns ans 911 and non emergency lines. This is bizarre.
Where I work we dont even do reports for hit and runs with no suspect info. We tell you that on the phone.

This was in NC. And my insurance company required a police report to process the hit and run. Insurance company said some police jurisdictions will create a case over the phone, others need to dispatch an officer to make the report. In my jurisdiction, the police had to be dispatched using the 911 emergency number.

[Anonymous]

I continue to be befuddled by the people who see this as rudeness, or the equivalent of giving the middle finger. He didn't flip her the bird. That is the hand gesture for "I am going to shoot you." Driver was pissed and made a threat to murder her child. It was probably an idle threat, but it would not be overreacting to take it seriously. if someone screamed in my face that he was going to murder my child, I would call the police even if he didn't actually flash a weapon. That's what the driver did. Pointedly, and repeatedly, using a hand signal, with the apparent intent to frighten her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I continue to be befuddled by the people who see this as rudeness, or the equivalent of giving the middle finger. He didn't flip her the bird. That is the hand gesture for "I am going to shoot you." Driver was pissed and made a threat to murder her child. It was probably an idle threat, but it would not be overreacting to take it seriously. if someone screamed in my face that he was going to murder my child, I would call the police even if he didn't actually flash a weapon. That's what the driver did. Pointedly, and repeatedly, using a hand signal, with the apparent intent to frighten her.

This is completely, totally ridiculous. You should seek help.

[Anonymous]

This is a crime, actually. Technically, it would be ADW-Gun (assault w/ dangerous weapon, gun) Implied. It's a Class A felony in DC. Same "seriousness" as homicde or other similarly crimes.

That there is no gun presented doesn't disqualify it from being ADW-Gun (Implied).

Much the same way if a person robs a bank and implies that they have a gun, but don't, they are still charged with armed robbery.

OP should've called police with tag. They don't need to witness the infraction for a felony crime, which this is.

By "letting this go" you are just giving them a pass, and the next time they do it and up their game and actually kill someone, then that blood is on your hands, because you could've maybe stopped them.