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Rated 5

Losses and Lessons: Classic case of road rage

Hagerty

November 15, 2010

Accidents happen, but how you respond can make a huge difference in total damages – either to the car or yourself.

VEHICLE COVERED: 1965 Ford Mustang

WHAT WENT WRONG: A Hagerty client was driving his 1965 Ford Mustang around town when he was rear-ended at a stop sign. The other driver fled the scene, but the Mustang owner decided to follow him to get his license plate number. The other driver eventually pulled over, but he wasn’t looking for a quiet exchange of insurance information. He emerged from the vehicle brandishing a gun.

DAMAGE: The man fired at the Mustang driver, putting a bullet hole in the passenger side door. The Hagerty client drove off as the man continued to fire, but he – and the Mustang – escaped further injury. The police never caught the other driver.

LOSS: The bullet hole in the door and the rear bumper damage caused $1,086 in damage.

LESSON: While it’s important to try to get information from anyone who hits you, never place your life in danger by following them. If it looks like the other driver is going to flee the scene, try to get as much information as you can while you can still see their vehicle. Try to write down or remember the license plate number, make, model and color of the car. Even try to get a look at the other driver.

But once they drive off, don’t follow. You’re already distracted, and the last thing you should be doing is weaving through traffic in pursuit. Not only are you putting yourself and your car at risk, but other drivers on the road.

The Mustang driver shouldn’t have followed the person who hit him, but he was right to stay in his car once they pulled over. Getting out could have been a fatal mistake. If you feel like you are in any danger after an accident, do not get out of the vehicle until the police arrive.

BOTTOM LINE: Accidents happen, but how you respond can make a huge difference in total damages – either to the car or yourself.

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Comments

  1. Such criminality would never happend in a national sosialistic society.

  2. Ok all you arm chair Rambos...If you did manage to get your weapon and get out of the car, could you in your about to happen gun fight, guarantee your kill zone? Guarantee no inocent persons or homes would be the victim of your missed shots becouse in your excitement you didn`t bother to check your kill zone? Most people I`ve watched shoot couldn`t hit the broad side of a barn in a real gun fight. I`m a two tour combat vet and gun owner and I would haven chosen to avoid the conflict. Should your shot miss and hit an inocent bystander you would now become the criminal... Cops cant be everywhere all the time. Collect the evidence available, report it, and hope for the best.

  3. I would do my best to drive away from the gunman while getting my traveling companion or my concealed handygun in my hand.

  4. Dumb thing to do on the shooter`s part. Too bad Mustang owner did not send shooter to the eternal dirt nap. Cops would not have done Jack if the mustang owner called, they would have kept him on the phone until he was dead, and they would have been acting like they cared but not done a darn thing, and the whole time would have been telling him not to confront the bad guy. You are truly on your own in this world and when seconds count, police are only minutes away. Twice I followed criminals in similar circumstances and twice the dispatcher kept me on the phone for over a half hour until I lost the bad guys......believe me, they just humor you and they will blow you off and switch dispatch once you cross out of their jurisdiction which is what they hope for.

  5. why does everyone gotta sound tough?? "lucky it wasn`t me! i would have shot back!!" bs. you would have run and hid. glad everyone is ok though

  6. Can`t believe the Mustang pursued and didn`t even get the plate number.......Almost even phone has a camera now. Good idea to learn to use it..............

  7. One of the comments referred to a mexican car. There`s nothing in the story about mexican cars. Be careful what you assume.

  8. I carry legally and shoot back. We must exercise our 2nd. ammendment rights. Too many nut cases out there on the road.

  9. bullet hole? no need for one of those dumb stickers or an expensive air brush artist. i would have ran the guy over, justice served for owner of the mustang and the mustang!

  10. I might be tempted to use the car as a weapon against anyone shooting at me- it`s a much more lethal weapon than any handgun, & much easier to hit the target. I guarantee that anyone in the path of a vehicle bearing down on them, armed or not, unless blind, is gonna drop gun & run like hell!( self-preservation instinct trumps bravado). just keep your head down!

  11. I would have persued, got plate number off the mexican car, got on cell phone 911 --- stayed back a-ways till cops come, to take over.c.w

  12. Guy has a gun at close range, is already firing and all these cowboys think they have time to get out their guns and shoot back while standing still and before they can get hit. I doubt any of those guys have ever been in an urban gunfight. That bravado gets young officers or innocent bystanders killed. At the end of the day, a car is just tin and rubber.

  13. Always be armed yourself. It`s your right.

  14. if the other driver runs, it is best to pursue long enough to get the plate number and then let the cops do their jobs since this is what we pay them to do.

  15. And that`s why I have my concealed weapons permit...

  16. What area or city did this incident happen?

  17. ..well, i guess they are going to leave us hanging, did anyone ever respond if they caught the idiot or not..?? sounds like attempted murder charge to me, over a fender bender, crazy people out there for sure.. be careful !!! [Editor's note: Sorry to leave everyone hanging! They never did catch the guy.]

  18. He is Lucky it could have gotten Much worse!!

  19. Sounds like a totally fabricated story to me.

  20. Ok, tell us more...pics. of car and was other driver caught?.....Don`t leave us hanging.

  21. I always carry my SideArm with me. If when I`m driving my collectible.

  22. 2 things missing: 1) I want to know if they caught the perp 2) Where did this happen?

  23. It may have been a real tragedy if the Mustang owner was also armed and was trained in the use of deadly force.

  24. Wow!! Thats scary! There are some real crazies out there...

  25. He was that close and still did not get anymore info on the other vehicle???? Whats that all about. THINK ABOUT IT.

  26. Well was the shooter ever caught--seems a no brainer!!!!!

  27. Time to shoot back! (I have a permit and always carry!)

  28. #1 Carry a camera in every car....you don`t know what interesting sights you might see #2 Call the police on your cell phone and advise them of the pursuit. They usually welcome.. the info and will intercept. #3 Don`t pull your own weapon!

  29. Another good reason why I carry a pistol in the console! But I certainly agree that one should not follow a person who leaves the scene. TWG

  30. Not an end to the story.

  31. I`m returning fire id no one else is in danger!

  32. Repops must be getting cheap these days. Then again, 65/66 is much cheaper than a 69/70. I hope following the guy was worth it and they got an ID of the shooter and they pressed charges!

  33. Sounds like a typical story from an AP reporter. All fluff and no fill.

  34. Yes, it coulda been worse... it coulda been a corvette!

  35. Sounds like a good reason for the Mustang driver to have a concealed weapons permit. Just don`t use your Mustang for concealment when shooting back!!!

  36. Lucky the driver did not pull a gun here! We shoot back! This should be a lesson to everyone. Always carry a gun and get a CCW permit. You may be the next victim.

  37. Better yet, take a picture of the fleeing vehicle with your cell phone. Don`t have a cell phone? keep a disposable camera in the glove box!

  38. I was also involved in a hit and run, but we were stuck in traffic and the other party was in a converible. My husband leaned out the window and said, hey, if you don`t pull over we are turning you in. He didn`t, so we turned him in for hit and run. Okay, whatever, we will play your game. The police gave us his insurance info and we turned it into his insurance anyway.

  39. I didn`t hear about the Power Tour incident in Mobile...and I am from here.

  40. That`s why I keep a gun in my car. I can shoot back!!!

  41. a bullet hole on the door and a damaged rear end $1086? Sounds ridiculously low....

  42. Geez, was the shooter ever caught?

  43. Honestly, this sounds like a Power Tour Incident that happened in Mobile AL...

  44. D NY

    "Such criminality would never happend in a national socialistic society." I agree. In this country any idiot can get a hold of a gun, that needs to change. This wouldn't have happened with strict gun control.

  45. Daysia You're the gertesat! JMHO

    You're the gertesat! JMHO

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