So, I made the mistake of picking up an accident victim at 4am on a rural mountain road out of cell service. He exclaimed, (not to me, under his breath) as we were driving into town (where I work) that “fuck, I lost the gun.” I could not get to town fast enough after I heard that although he was not threatening and had a head injury. On the way (about 20miles) I get pulled over cause Fish and Game want to know what I have in the back of my truck (hunting season.) As I pull over dude bails, runs off into the woods. I get hand cuffed and held till he was found. (I was so glad he was found or I’m sure I would have been taken in) I was late to work but fine. I ended up testifying about the gun statement cause the wrecked car was stolen and a stolen gun was found at the accident scene. It was nuts! Anyways, this 49yo female wants to remind everyone…DO NOT pick up anyone, even hurt accident victims.
When I was about 6 years old my mom her boyfriend and I were driving on some mountain rd when we came across some accident victims.
When our car headlights illuminated them you could see a child lying on the ground and a man holding his totally mangled arm.
They were flagging us down.
My mom’s boyfriend said “You don’t stop for those things” as we drove on.
This was about 40 years ago, Ive ofter thought of those people.
A smart black amaerican guy once came to a hotel where I worked and said something that has always stuck with me as I took a swipe.of his card. "The good suffer for the bad". Wise words because it applies to everything in life.
Many stories are just bullshit. Think about the scenario, and the premise quickly falls apart. If criminals were looking to take advantage of an isolated stretch of road, how would they go about it? It is incredibly easy to block a two lane road with a vehicle. If they wanted to force people to stop for nefarious purposes, they could actually force people to stop. So, why rely upon an elaborate ruse that is utterly unnecessary? Maybe they want their victims to self-select so that they don't have to get into a fight? But how many cars drive by a particular spot in the middle of nowhere? A discerning criminal would never get an opportunity to actually do any crime. Which seems rather counterproductive. Sure, exercise caution. But people are walking around using illogical hypotheticals to excuse their clinical anti-social tendencies and general misanthropy.
You don't even need to think about it, the video of this whole thread is literally your scenario
The victim reverse and go around the blocking vehicle
If they can't go around they can just reverse out of range of these guys
If they still can't, as someone said in one of these threads, "remember, you're driving a 2 ton moving, killing, machine"
So why rely on a ruse? Because then the driver gets off its 2 tons moving, killing, machine to check
Doesn't drive off, no risk of getting run over, no risk of getting your own vehicle damaged in case the victim decides to "fuck it" and play bumper cars, maybe even get the victim to lower their guard and get away from, say a gun, they have in their car, etc
It's only illogical if you don't want to see the logic
When a normal person sees another human in pain or distress, the immediate natural instinct is to figure out how to help. The urgency of the situation overrides their critical thinking abilities, and that's why it's an extremely common thing in many situations for predators to pretend that they need help to catch their victims off guard and disarm them.
Blocking a road with something causes the victims to panic and behave unexpectedly. Possibly injuring someone or using weapons if available or even escaping. When you play dead, the victims are more likely to stop the car and get out and be vulnerable.
Happened to me. Nobody planned anything nefarious to get me to pick them up but I ended up picking up a person who happened to crash the car they just stole. If I hadn’t had gotten pulled over they probably would have “disappeared” into the small town I was headed into and I would have been none the wiser. (He said he grew up in the area.) Probably while I was calling it in to the sheriffs department. And I would have been on time for work. I drive that way, that time of the morning, two mornings a week, and have every week for years. This would not have been the first wounded or stranded traveler I’ve picked up in the middle of the night. Mostly, people just need help. This happened a few months ago. Nothing was planned but me just trying to help someone out put me in handcuffs on the side of the road and then held for a long time and late to work. Genuinely not worth it!
I used to drive people around and shit. One time I realised I was driving a member of a notorious gang around. He told me it’s chill he only fucks with rival gang members.
Dunno what gang violence is like in the US, but the dude was actually chill. However I stopped driving around random people after that.
Its an unfortunate reality that bad people take advantage of kindness. There are crazies put there that will drag a wrecked car out to a backroad, have a female family member stand out there as bait, while ten others are waiting in the bush to pop out
I ran out of gas on the freeway while driving home from college. As I was walking, a woman with her young child pulled over to give me a lift. Turns out she was in the process of leaving her abusive husband, and decided to help a stranded stranger along the way. I was very grateful, as I realized that, had I been someone else, she could have been putting herself in great danger showing such compassion at a terrible point in her life. I still think about her from time to time. I hope she eventually found happiness.
I worked with a guy that was late to work one morning and he didn’t explain why for a couple days. Left it as, “I’m nervous about why and I promise to give the details when I can.” Ominous and made people nervous for him. When he finally explained it to the people in my office a few days later he explained that he was being questioned by the local FBI for giving a ride to the guy who was arrested for shooting the WH while Obama wasn’t home. He, “gave a guy who seemed down on his luck a ride when was approached, but made the guy put his bag in the back of the car to be safe,” and when the feds showed up he was questioned pretty extensively about it. Not that I ever pick people up when I see them, but the story has been with me for a long time
When I had my old Crew Cab truck, I pulled over to confirm directions to my brother's house. About eight laborers piled into my truck. Took me a few minutes to convince them no job today. San Francisco.
My brother reminded me, "Lock your doors!" while laughing his head off.
If it helps, this 29 y.o female picks up strangers in trouble a lot. So far everyones been nice. A nice man in need of a ride home after being dumped and then dumped on the side of the road, an elderly disabled couple I high-key saved from dying, a lovely dude who just needed a quickie ride up the road cause it was snowing and he had run out of gas (was walking back to his car when I got him).... I will stop for whoever as long as Ive got time. Its always worth it to me because if I was desperate, Id hope for a "me" to come save me. I have to put out that goodness into the world if I want that, so I will keep on doing it.
Yeh, it’s Best to trust your gut. Be observant of body language and surroundings. Not all situations will end up with you kidnapped or ded, but that doesn’t make it 0. The odds are in your favor. Of all the people in the world, most people aren’t out to get you, most of the time. Life just be that way. You can either live in fear all of the time or train yourself to be observant and trust your instincts.
Well, yeah... I pull over to pick a "lone female" on a rural road and her friends swarm out of the woods armed for bear. I like my kidneys where they are, thanks. I'll call 911 for you.
This reminds me of that stupid "what's scarier to meet in the woods, a man or a bear." Clearly it's a lone woman. Even worse, a little girl in a white night gown and long, dark hair.
In my country, Czech, people help each other every time. Never ever heared of anyone doing this kind of evil. Never thought of not stopping and asking if help is needed. And people here go “yeah stuff like this happends alot, so don’t help anyone out there”. Very, very sad.
If you live in the US I guess… in any civilized society you help people. In my country it’s illegal to abandon or not help someone who has been in an accident….
Yep. Inverse of the survivor bias. We only hear about the times everything ends up fucked up. We have to remember that the US has some 375 Million people. Basically the living example of the Monkey Typing Experiment and Murphy's law wrapped up into one. 99.99% of the people out there are trustworthy and you could be fine with helping them. That's still 4 million people you shouldn't deal with, with sometimes no clear way to identify them. Then all you hear is about extreme cases.
I live in the US and always offer people a ride. I also always have a gun on me but I'm not under the illusion that is gonna save me if someone attacks me while I'm driving.
I used to work a night delivery job for a bakery, on night like you I was out and I come around a corner and down the stretch of road you can just barely make out a white van. Well my turn was before that so I couldn't decide if I wanted to go help. Something about they way they started flashing their lights at me told me to avoid it and call it in. Which I did, idk what happened to them but I wasn't about to find out.
Damn lol. That’s crazy. I see creepy men trying to hitchhike after midnight on my way home from work. I’m a petite woman (with cPTSD no less), so I’m careful around men. Sometimes I feel bad that they’re walking through the ice and snow at midnight, but I have to shove it down and keep going because I’m not taking any chances like that lol.
Yeah, this is the kind of shit that happens when you try to help people. It sucks but it's true. Happened in my family a bunch of times over the last 60 years, to the point we help no one we don't know anymore.
I live in a rural area and thankfully, nobody around here follows this shitty advice. People help each other out all the time and I've never heard of anything bad resulting from it. I've helped and been helped by others on several occasions.
"Never stop for people on rural roads at night" because of one dumb video that's provided without context or location and may not even be real in the first place? Come on
Thankfully nothing bad has happened to any of you. I stopped taking people that asked for rides after one pulled a knife on me for the last 30 bucks in my pocket. Guess that's the difference between a city and some country roads huh?
I don't know, I stopped for a car on the side of the road one night in the winter, and I'm pretty sure the guy and his two kids would have frozen to death if I hadn't. I'm willing to take my chances.
Staged. Obviously. Why would the van driver not block off the road? They planned an ambush on a specific area for a moving can at night. But didn't think about "well... What if he just keeps going?"
Plus they usually dont have all that much equipment or supplies to pull off whatever the fuck they're doing.
And if they do have the supplies, it doesnt seem like a good idea to put so much time, effort, materials, and energy into robbing some dingy little car in the middle of nowhere that you don't know if they even have the funds to pay back all that they've sunk into said capper.
This is some rural backroad. It’s night time and they look like the only ones on that road. The fucking truck was probably up the van’s ass for 5 miles since there are no turns. Truck was trying to go 50 on a road that fits 1.5 cars when the speed limit is 25.
I’ve seen this shit play out irl 100 times when I have to drive through bumfuck towns. It’s not creepy, just typical road rage clip guaranteed.
This is why when the recording starts, both cars are suddenly coming to a stop. Van was most likely brake checking before that.
Super late at night, hard to see, but don't worry the reddit badasses would takem out! I've seen police have shootouts only car length apart and completely miss every shot in broad daylight. But reddit badasses? Shit man they got this. Totally wouldn't get killed themselves. Much better to kill 5 people too then you know... Just hit gas like guy in video.
If I could stretch first, I'd hop over this dude and stomp on his head. Then I'd pick up his body and chuck it at his friends and watch it bonk back around. A perfectly timed jump and I'd stomp him again. Rinse and repeat.
But, man, if I had a fire flower, him and his friends would be toast. Unless those are the dudes that throw hammers. I always sucked at that.
Hashtag: Video games save lives.
Maybe I shouldn't be driving after eating mushrooms...
It's crazy that there's a debate as to whether a full on gunfight is the best option. The lone driver who has to shoot out of, or get out of a vehicle to shoot, while possibly surrounded by multiple gunmen is probably not going to come out on top. It's not a movie.
Having the opinion that a gun fight is better seems to be based on some people seeing value in getting to kill somebody versus getting to escape safely.
If someones first instinct is to shoot it out, they've got some underlying issues lol. That's coming from a guy who decently trained and carries every day. But y'all go ahead and see if your conceal carry insurance works as advertised.
I'd be far more likely to run over the 28 days later zombie extra before shooting.
Its crazy the delusions people with main character syndrom have. The driver in the video handled it perfectly. Way to many unknowable variables, life is not an action movie.
I would simply perform a 360 degree burnout handbrake turn while shooting out the driver's side window like Jason Statham in that one documentary he was in.
For real. Kind of insane to think there are 4 gunmen waiting in the bushes relying on a crackhead with a machete to stop a car and apprehend the driver.
Lmao ikr. If you gotta defend yourself sure whatever, but people always start acting so serious and macho about these hypothetical self defense situations lol.
While I will absolutely agree with you that you should be able to purchase and own a gun (within reason) for defending yourself and the life of others...
You are an absolute moron if you do not flee first and use your gun as a last resort.
Stand your ground laws are only effective at making idiots feel emboldened to kill people over situations in which extraditing yourself was the smarter play and calling authorities afterwards.
Fight or flight and all that I get it, in a split second you dont have a lot of time to come to a decision. But you have less of a risk to yourself and others if you use a gun to ward off others so you may leave than brandishing it and just pulling the trigger haphazardly in a shootout.
It seems like these days that the people who buy guns only buy them with the intent and the excitement to use them one day. Any excuse to make them feel like a "bad ass." Real life ain't like the movies, folks.
Also, people severely underestimate the psychological impact of killing a person.
I've known one person who actually had to use the "make my day" / Castle doctrine. Guy was completely messed up by it. Casual acquaintance of my Dad's growing up, he owned some land my Dad and Uncle would hunt on. Nice guy, lived way out in nowhere because he spent 6 months a year on oil rigs working with my Uncle and liked to live in nature the other 6.
Only heard about it after the fact because it hit the town news, but someone tried to break down his front door. He had some cameras on his property to keep an eye on things when he was away, Dad said it was ultimately what saved him because it proved who shot first. Stranger tried to shoot through the door, then took a sledgehammer to the handle/lock. Door opened, Dad's friend fired one shot with his shotgun.
Apparently he had to listen to the guy bleed out on his porch begging for his life. He didn't want to go out, worried the guy was still armed. He was so remote, it took emergency services nearly an hour to get to him, and by then the guy was gone.
Dude was just never the same afterwards. Ended up going on disability from work, not because he couldn't handle it, but because his other coworkers couldn't shut the hell up, always congratulating him, asking him what it was like to "waste a dude."
Small towns, news spreads like wildfire, and suddenly the people this guy most identifies with fear him and the people he absolutely doesn't want to talk to see him as one of their own. All in all, I wasn't surprised when he moved away a couple of years later. Hope he ended up alright.
Uh oh. We got a badass over here. Don’t know why people like fantasizing about killing other people. Much more intelligent to escape the situation rather than escalate it.
sees extremely unlikely video; thinks “ah yes my paranoia is completely justified”
Whether it is people saying "this is why I have a gun" or saying "this is why you can't trust or help anybody", the majority of this thread are comments basically saying the same thing.
It’s not even about killing the other person. It’s the fact that getting of the X is always the better option to protect yourself in a hostile encounter. No one should be looking to get in a gun fight; it rarely ends well. Lethal force should be used only as a step in safely fleeing. Are they blocking your escape route? Then use lethal force. That’s it.
I mean, if I'm being honest, I think the world is a little better off with evil kidnappers shot in such incidents. Stand your ground should be the default at the eyes of the law. That said, I would definitely do what this guy here did. I'm not putting myself in more risk to play the hero. Fuck that.
I don't think there is an issue with using force here if needed, but in most situations, getting away is much safer for the victim than trying to fight.
And how do you know he's an evil kidnapper? The issue in your country is that people get killed based on assumptions. That's why rampant gun violence and owning lethal weapons isn't a good solution. Leave the meth head to run around in the forest without shoes if he so wishes. The winner is the person who leaves the situation unscathed.
For starters, it's not my country. I'm Argentinian. That said, I doubt anyone here would see this as anything other than threatning. I do not think violent defense would have been anything other than stupid, but I firmly believe it should have been legal.
To be fair, there's not many good reasons for someone to abruptly stop driving, get out of their car, and beeline to a random stranger. Once the line of threatening someone is crossed, force is fair game.
That being said, I do agree the driver here had a good response. Although the ride home or out of the backwoods area must've been scary, assuming the other dude got back in his truck to pursue them.
What? You’re joking right? They’re scary for instantly thinking of a tool meant for self defense in a self defense situation? They’re not blood hungry murders dude, would you rather have them unlock and open the doors in this situation? Are you the dude from the white van?
You literally are driving. Why would you stop driving, take your hands off the wheel, search for a gun, take it out, get it ready, open a window and shoot at a running guy instead of you know....
just slamming the pedal and driving off?
That is the problem with those gun people. at the very least they think that they are ready to start blasting in 4 seconds from each given moment. Crazy.
Every self defense class says escape whenever possible, that guy didn't have a gun so driver did the right thing, might've been an ambush too, even expertly trained soldiers would have difficulty killing 4 or 5 targets that surround you while driving a car.
Why wouldn’t you shoot someone running at you in that situation?
Naturally, it’s easier to drive away, but at the same time, unsure why it’s scary other than to say, people carry guns in their cars for these types of situations where their life might be in danger.
The alternative being a Reddit dork that will bleed out on the side of the road with their dick in their hand
That'd be funny, seeing as it appears the guy was the driver. Although I guess there probably are cases where kidnappers have their victims drive them around.
It's 100% a road rage incident and it looks like the dude has his ultra bright high beams on antagonizing the van. Who the fuck tries to kidnap someone barefoot. To top it off there were at least two people in the camera car, one driving, one holding the camera, unless that's a dash cam.
Yeah, if you really crank the audio you can just make out van dude yelling something like, "The fuck's your problem?" You've also got to wonder why they were filming the van in the first place.
Me when I follow someone for half an hour with my headlights turned up to max very close behind their car and then film the last 15 seconds of them being fed up with it and exiting their car to make them look like an insane person whilst driving away.
It's crazy how much the lack of context can change a scene, huh?
You described my exact scenario last week. I was the fed up driver but at least the guy who hit me also jointly called 911 and we were both on the line with two different operators sitting in the same room, like it was some Seinfeld skit.
This is by far the most likely explanation, especially if this is in a Western country, yet Reddit jumps to the most convoluted conclusion that it's a kidnapping attempt. Fuck me.
Once I was driving at night in my rural midwest state... and I had some jabroni come up fast behind me blinding the hell out of me. I thought it was some dumb fuck truck bro so I slowed to the speed limit. Then they started tailgating me and followed me into 15 minutes into town. Once in town they turned off and I could finally see it had been the county sheriff lol.
Exactly. A peek into these weird people’s fantasies that the world out to hurt them and they can be a hero if they have their gun with them. The person in the video drives away unscathed and this guys thinking how he would have preferred to shoot him.
You can react a lot faster by just continuing the action of driving.
You are less likely to be shot by the person running to your car, while you fidget a gun from your console, already placing yourself in even more danger.
Dash cams record continuously. The memory card is divided into space for N video files and the device just goes in a loop, overwriting the oldest file. If there is a high-g shock it tags the file as read only to preserve it.
Different devices have slightly different features. I HIGHLY recommend everyone use them. A teen blew through a red light and totaled my car. The video made it clear to the police and insurance it was 100% their fault.
I think the biggest giveaway is the way the full sprint begins as the driver leaves the van; as in no time to ground himself or anything, just full sprint on asphalt, barefoot. That said, the rest doesnt seem like AI, but in general it does feel wonky. I guess it's just the times we live in now, can't be sure.
We don't know the situation. The guy recording could have been tailgating earlier, beeping and God knows what else. Then the guy in the van had enough and went to beat his ass. How is this creepy? I just see road rage.
Redditors from around the world: "Well done, excellent timing, he ran away quickly, probably avoiding the worst!"
American Redditors: "Why hasn't this happened to me?!? I have the gun in the glove compartment that I haven't been able to use yet. When will I get my first kill? 😢"
Everyone keeps assuming that it was some sort of ambush or kidnapping attempt. Lol. Def not. There are numerous indications, but I think the primary one is that the driver of the van isn’t going to get out. He’d stay in the driver’s seat to, you know, drive afterwards. This looked to me like a road rage incident. I’d put money on the fact that there was an incident leading up to this. That guy was PISSED. He was looking to beat that other driver’s ass, not kidnap him.
Edit: upon further viewing, the primary indication is not that the driver got out of the car, but rather that he is wearing no shoes when he does. My assessment stands. 😂
The fuck was that guy trying to do even
There was probably more of them than just the driver that were jumping out of the brush/woods to either kidnap them or hold them up
Its why you don't stop for people on rural roads at night. Just keep driving and call the relevant emergency services to report it.
So, I made the mistake of picking up an accident victim at 4am on a rural mountain road out of cell service. He exclaimed, (not to me, under his breath) as we were driving into town (where I work) that “fuck, I lost the gun.” I could not get to town fast enough after I heard that although he was not threatening and had a head injury. On the way (about 20miles) I get pulled over cause Fish and Game want to know what I have in the back of my truck (hunting season.) As I pull over dude bails, runs off into the woods. I get hand cuffed and held till he was found. (I was so glad he was found or I’m sure I would have been taken in) I was late to work but fine. I ended up testifying about the gun statement cause the wrecked car was stolen and a stolen gun was found at the accident scene. It was nuts! Anyways, this 49yo female wants to remind everyone…DO NOT pick up anyone, even hurt accident victims.
I think your advice applies 96.6% of the time, but first responders/military with training might be compelled for off encounters like this.
When I was about 6 years old my mom her boyfriend and I were driving on some mountain rd when we came across some accident victims. When our car headlights illuminated them you could see a child lying on the ground and a man holding his totally mangled arm. They were flagging us down. My mom’s boyfriend said “You don’t stop for those things” as we drove on. This was about 40 years ago, Ive ofter thought of those people.
Damn, a kid involved? Yeah, your humanity serves you well. You definitely stop for those things.
There are many stories of people using children and babies as bait to lure victims in. A child doesn’t automatically make it safe.
If only shitty people didn't punish good Samaritans
Kinda their best victims unfortunately
A smart black amaerican guy once came to a hotel where I worked and said something that has always stuck with me as I took a swipe.of his card. "The good suffer for the bad". Wise words because it applies to everything in life.
Many stories are just bullshit. Think about the scenario, and the premise quickly falls apart. If criminals were looking to take advantage of an isolated stretch of road, how would they go about it? It is incredibly easy to block a two lane road with a vehicle. If they wanted to force people to stop for nefarious purposes, they could actually force people to stop. So, why rely upon an elaborate ruse that is utterly unnecessary? Maybe they want their victims to self-select so that they don't have to get into a fight? But how many cars drive by a particular spot in the middle of nowhere? A discerning criminal would never get an opportunity to actually do any crime. Which seems rather counterproductive. Sure, exercise caution. But people are walking around using illogical hypotheticals to excuse their clinical anti-social tendencies and general misanthropy.
This. People love the horror movie theme. Ever notice it’s never them? Oh my buddies uncles nephew….
Ghost stories. Or, from 100 years ago when we didn’t have cell phones and our cars tracking you all the time.
You don't even need to think about it, the video of this whole thread is literally your scenario
The victim reverse and go around the blocking vehicle
If they can't go around they can just reverse out of range of these guys
If they still can't, as someone said in one of these threads, "remember, you're driving a 2 ton moving, killing, machine"
So why rely on a ruse? Because then the driver gets off its 2 tons moving, killing, machine to check
Doesn't drive off, no risk of getting run over, no risk of getting your own vehicle damaged in case the victim decides to "fuck it" and play bumper cars, maybe even get the victim to lower their guard and get away from, say a gun, they have in their car, etc
It's only illogical if you don't want to see the logic
When a normal person sees another human in pain or distress, the immediate natural instinct is to figure out how to help. The urgency of the situation overrides their critical thinking abilities, and that's why it's an extremely common thing in many situations for predators to pretend that they need help to catch their victims off guard and disarm them.
Blocking a road with something causes the victims to panic and behave unexpectedly. Possibly injuring someone or using weapons if available or even escaping. When you play dead, the victims are more likely to stop the car and get out and be vulnerable.
Happened to me. Nobody planned anything nefarious to get me to pick them up but I ended up picking up a person who happened to crash the car they just stole. If I hadn’t had gotten pulled over they probably would have “disappeared” into the small town I was headed into and I would have been none the wiser. (He said he grew up in the area.) Probably while I was calling it in to the sheriffs department. And I would have been on time for work. I drive that way, that time of the morning, two mornings a week, and have every week for years. This would not have been the first wounded or stranded traveler I’ve picked up in the middle of the night. Mostly, people just need help. This happened a few months ago. Nothing was planned but me just trying to help someone out put me in handcuffs on the side of the road and then held for a long time and late to work. Genuinely not worth it!
Does the mangled arm though?
I used to drive people around and shit. One time I realised I was driving a member of a notorious gang around. He told me it’s chill he only fucks with rival gang members.
Dunno what gang violence is like in the US, but the dude was actually chill. However I stopped driving around random people after that.
most old heads won’t fuck with a civilian unless they start it.
"But what about <exception that would 110% know they're the exception and be able to articulate exactly why it doesn't apply to them>" so tiring.
the 3.4% that it doesn't apply to already know that. The advice was never aimed at them in the first place.
Well I guess that explains why this 39 year old female at 36 years old had to stand alone in the snow for several hours after my car was totaled.
Its an unfortunate reality that bad people take advantage of kindness. There are crazies put there that will drag a wrecked car out to a backroad, have a female family member stand out there as bait, while ten others are waiting in the bush to pop out
I ran out of gas on the freeway while driving home from college. As I was walking, a woman with her young child pulled over to give me a lift. Turns out she was in the process of leaving her abusive husband, and decided to help a stranded stranger along the way. I was very grateful, as I realized that, had I been someone else, she could have been putting herself in great danger showing such compassion at a terrible point in her life. I still think about her from time to time. I hope she eventually found happiness.
I worked with a guy that was late to work one morning and he didn’t explain why for a couple days. Left it as, “I’m nervous about why and I promise to give the details when I can.” Ominous and made people nervous for him. When he finally explained it to the people in my office a few days later he explained that he was being questioned by the local FBI for giving a ride to the guy who was arrested for shooting the WH while Obama wasn’t home. He, “gave a guy who seemed down on his luck a ride when was approached, but made the guy put his bag in the back of the car to be safe,” and when the feds showed up he was questioned pretty extensively about it. Not that I ever pick people up when I see them, but the story has been with me for a long time
When I had my old Crew Cab truck, I pulled over to confirm directions to my brother's house. About eight laborers piled into my truck. Took me a few minutes to convince them no job today. San Francisco.
My brother reminded me, "Lock your doors!" while laughing his head off.
Dude you could have had a new roof by lunchtime!
That's hilarious lol. And also must have been pretty damn scary for a brief moment.
Yup, and a lot of innocent people seeking help get shot and killed because of bad people existing somewhere.
Life is a gamble like that.
If it helps, this 29 y.o female picks up strangers in trouble a lot. So far everyones been nice. A nice man in need of a ride home after being dumped and then dumped on the side of the road, an elderly disabled couple I high-key saved from dying, a lovely dude who just needed a quickie ride up the road cause it was snowing and he had run out of gas (was walking back to his car when I got him).... I will stop for whoever as long as Ive got time. Its always worth it to me because if I was desperate, Id hope for a "me" to come save me. I have to put out that goodness into the world if I want that, so I will keep on doing it.
Stay safe, nice lady.
Yeh, it’s Best to trust your gut. Be observant of body language and surroundings. Not all situations will end up with you kidnapped or ded, but that doesn’t make it 0. The odds are in your favor. Of all the people in the world, most people aren’t out to get you, most of the time. Life just be that way. You can either live in fear all of the time or train yourself to be observant and trust your instincts.
Well, yeah... I pull over to pick a "lone female" on a rural road and her friends swarm out of the woods armed for bear. I like my kidneys where they are, thanks. I'll call 911 for you.
This reminds me of that stupid "what's scarier to meet in the woods, a man or a bear." Clearly it's a lone woman. Even worse, a little girl in a white night gown and long, dark hair.
In my country, Czech, people help each other every time. Never ever heared of anyone doing this kind of evil. Never thought of not stopping and asking if help is needed. And people here go “yeah stuff like this happends alot, so don’t help anyone out there”. Very, very sad.
The perks of a high trust society. I envy you.
Same as in New Zealand. I’m reading this thinking, am I - a female naiive, cos this shit I can’t comprehend calculating…! America is awful!
If you live in the US I guess… in any civilized society you help people. In my country it’s illegal to abandon or not help someone who has been in an accident….
Americans listen to True Crime all day and assume they are going to get raped and slaughtered 12 times before breakfast
Yep. Inverse of the survivor bias. We only hear about the times everything ends up fucked up. We have to remember that the US has some 375 Million people. Basically the living example of the Monkey Typing Experiment and Murphy's law wrapped up into one. 99.99% of the people out there are trustworthy and you could be fine with helping them. That's still 4 million people you shouldn't deal with, with sometimes no clear way to identify them. Then all you hear is about extreme cases.
I do think it's at least partially this.
I live in the US and always offer people a ride. I also always have a gun on me but I'm not under the illusion that is gonna save me if someone attacks me while I'm driving.
In most of the US you can discharge your legal obligations by simply calling emergency services, you are not obligated to put yourself at risk.
I used to work a night delivery job for a bakery, on night like you I was out and I come around a corner and down the stretch of road you can just barely make out a white van. Well my turn was before that so I couldn't decide if I wanted to go help. Something about they way they started flashing their lights at me told me to avoid it and call it in. Which I did, idk what happened to them but I wasn't about to find out.
Damn lol. That’s crazy. I see creepy men trying to hitchhike after midnight on my way home from work. I’m a petite woman (with cPTSD no less), so I’m careful around men. Sometimes I feel bad that they’re walking through the ice and snow at midnight, but I have to shove it down and keep going because I’m not taking any chances like that lol.
What a sad society we live in, huh?
Yeah, this is the kind of shit that happens when you try to help people. It sucks but it's true. Happened in my family a bunch of times over the last 60 years, to the point we help no one we don't know anymore.
I live in a rural area and thankfully, nobody around here follows this shitty advice. People help each other out all the time and I've never heard of anything bad resulting from it. I've helped and been helped by others on several occasions.
"Never stop for people on rural roads at night" because of one dumb video that's provided without context or location and may not even be real in the first place? Come on
I'm also from a rural area but, man, self-preservation comes first. I trust no one. People are crazy these days.
We live in a time with less violence than ever before.
But yeah, I'm not picking anyone up. Ever. Fuck you all if you are in need at 4 am.
Thankfully nothing bad has happened to any of you. I stopped taking people that asked for rides after one pulled a knife on me for the last 30 bucks in my pocket. Guess that's the difference between a city and some country roads huh?
What is the old joke?
I'm glad for the ride, but aren't you worried I might be a serial killer?
Nah, What are the odds of two of us in the same car?
I don't know, I stopped for a car on the side of the road one night in the winter, and I'm pretty sure the guy and his two kids would have frozen to death if I hadn't. I'm willing to take my chances.
Yeah, I learned this in red dead redemption 2. damn swamp people.
Can't imagine living in such a fucking hellhole where this is an actual concern people have what the fuck
It’s not. They watch horrible things on social media 24x7 and think there is danger around every corner.
Sigh
In many countries, there are no relevant emergency services.
like you dont have police?
yall just rawdoggin crime huh?
Which country doesn't have energy services?
South Sudan and Burundi only have around 8-10% electrification rates, but you are right--every sovereign nation has some level of energy services
Staged. Obviously. Why would the van driver not block off the road? They planned an ambush on a specific area for a moving can at night. But didn't think about "well... What if he just keeps going?"
Yeah, ok
Criminals aren't smart. Some are, but you rarely see video evidence of those.
Add meth or opiates to that mix, and you get even dumber ideas.
Never underestimate the incompetence of a determined idiot. Is like, sorta the saying. I think. Or something...
Plus they usually dont have all that much equipment or supplies to pull off whatever the fuck they're doing.
And if they do have the supplies, it doesnt seem like a good idea to put so much time, effort, materials, and energy into robbing some dingy little car in the middle of nowhere that you don't know if they even have the funds to pay back all that they've sunk into said capper.
Caper
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Don't turn off the engine since for some convenience reason they also auto unlock
You can’t envisage a scenario where a criminal doesn’t do something exactly as you think it should happen.
r/nothingeverhappens
This! It’s 100% fake
Let’s be honest lmfao.
This is some rural backroad. It’s night time and they look like the only ones on that road. The fucking truck was probably up the van’s ass for 5 miles since there are no turns. Truck was trying to go 50 on a road that fits 1.5 cars when the speed limit is 25.
I’ve seen this shit play out irl 100 times when I have to drive through bumfuck towns. It’s not creepy, just typical road rage clip guaranteed.
This is why when the recording starts, both cars are suddenly coming to a stop. Van was most likely brake checking before that.
Nailed it. In my view.
Or road rage about the truck behind them flashing brights on a narrow road.
Passenger was already filming for a reason.
Get ran over lol
He realized he had dropped his hat about a tenth of a mile back.
Well yeah - they don’t make stussy anymore
My guess is road rage. He was probably going to assault the car and/or driver. Try to break some glass, maybe?
His headlights were pretty bright. Maybe being blinded by them sparked road rage.
[deleted]
Follow their planned skit...
It probably started as some road rage thing... van driver got cut off and now wants a fight.
say hello to this pistol I keep in my center console
Say hello to the four other dudes hiding in the grass.
Pretty sure my truck gun has more than 4 rounds in the magazine.
4 invisble, impossible to make out gunmen vs. Truck Redditor lol
Super late at night, hard to see, but don't worry the reddit badasses would takem out! I've seen police have shootouts only car length apart and completely miss every shot in broad daylight. But reddit badasses? Shit man they got this. Totally wouldn't get killed themselves. Much better to kill 5 people too then you know... Just hit gas like guy in video.
Videogames give them a false sense of ability
Snipers trained in gorilla warfare.
I'm trained in vanilla waferfare
Hey now, stop blaming video games for everything.
If I could stretch first, I'd hop over this dude and stomp on his head. Then I'd pick up his body and chuck it at his friends and watch it bonk back around. A perfectly timed jump and I'd stomp him again. Rinse and repeat.
But, man, if I had a fire flower, him and his friends would be toast. Unless those are the dudes that throw hammers. I always sucked at that.
Hashtag: Video games save lives.
Maybe I shouldn't be driving after eating mushrooms...
My mouth could take 4 dudes. I’m safe
Oh my
It's crazy that there's a debate as to whether a full on gunfight is the best option. The lone driver who has to shoot out of, or get out of a vehicle to shoot, while possibly surrounded by multiple gunmen is probably not going to come out on top. It's not a movie.
Having the opinion that a gun fight is better seems to be based on some people seeing value in getting to kill somebody versus getting to escape safely.
If someones first instinct is to shoot it out, they've got some underlying issues lol. That's coming from a guy who decently trained and carries every day. But y'all go ahead and see if your conceal carry insurance works as advertised.
I'd be far more likely to run over the 28 days later zombie extra before shooting.
Its crazy the delusions people with main character syndrom have. The driver in the video handled it perfectly. Way to many unknowable variables, life is not an action movie.
So much larp in this country lmao
If they had guns they wouldn't be relying on one dude with a machete to stop a vehicle
I would simply perform a 360 degree burnout handbrake turn while shooting out the driver's side window like Jason Statham in that one documentary he was in.
Pretty sure the four guys have more than that each as well. Unless you’re Keanu Reeves you’re cooked
https://preview.redd.it/p5ygn2oexs5g1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=9b937ce1b75ac33f4727638cfe80e3f29baad022
Solution. Drum mag.
But you forgot! In this made up situation, all 4 hidden guys are navy seals with swat gear and miniguns
For real. Kind of insane to think there are 4 gunmen waiting in the bushes relying on a crackhead with a machete to stop a car and apprehend the driver.
that made me laugh so fucking hard. when you put it that way, yea.. its not gonna be more people in the bushes
good luck hitting 4 people at once John Wick
Another Gravy SEAL
Anyways, I started blasting
Wooooo we got a bad ass over here!
Lmao ikr. If you gotta defend yourself sure whatever, but people always start acting so serious and macho about these hypothetical self defense situations lol.
While I will absolutely agree with you that you should be able to purchase and own a gun (within reason) for defending yourself and the life of others...
You are an absolute moron if you do not flee first and use your gun as a last resort.
Stand your ground laws are only effective at making idiots feel emboldened to kill people over situations in which extraditing yourself was the smarter play and calling authorities afterwards.
Fight or flight and all that I get it, in a split second you dont have a lot of time to come to a decision. But you have less of a risk to yourself and others if you use a gun to ward off others so you may leave than brandishing it and just pulling the trigger haphazardly in a shootout.
It seems like these days that the people who buy guns only buy them with the intent and the excitement to use them one day. Any excuse to make them feel like a "bad ass." Real life ain't like the movies, folks.
Also, people severely underestimate the psychological impact of killing a person.
I've known one person who actually had to use the "make my day" / Castle doctrine. Guy was completely messed up by it. Casual acquaintance of my Dad's growing up, he owned some land my Dad and Uncle would hunt on. Nice guy, lived way out in nowhere because he spent 6 months a year on oil rigs working with my Uncle and liked to live in nature the other 6.
Only heard about it after the fact because it hit the town news, but someone tried to break down his front door. He had some cameras on his property to keep an eye on things when he was away, Dad said it was ultimately what saved him because it proved who shot first. Stranger tried to shoot through the door, then took a sledgehammer to the handle/lock. Door opened, Dad's friend fired one shot with his shotgun.
Apparently he had to listen to the guy bleed out on his porch begging for his life. He didn't want to go out, worried the guy was still armed. He was so remote, it took emergency services nearly an hour to get to him, and by then the guy was gone.
Dude was just never the same afterwards. Ended up going on disability from work, not because he couldn't handle it, but because his other coworkers couldn't shut the hell up, always congratulating him, asking him what it was like to "waste a dude."
Small towns, news spreads like wildfire, and suddenly the people this guy most identifies with fear him and the people he absolutely doesn't want to talk to see him as one of their own. All in all, I wasn't surprised when he moved away a couple of years later. Hope he ended up alright.
Isn't the first thing you learn about carrying firearms that avoidance is the best defense?
Even if you're carrying, wouldn't be better just to get away from the situation rather than stay there and try to be Wyatt Earp?
You act like this dude has taken a gun safety class.
Some people are so amped to kill another human it’s kind of crazy.
r/iamverybadass
lol yall gun nuts have such fantasies
Uh oh. We got a badass over here. Don’t know why people like fantasizing about killing other people. Much more intelligent to escape the situation rather than escalate it.
Guy sees extremely unlikely video and thinks “ah yes my paranoia is completely justified”
Whether it is people saying "this is why I have a gun" or saying "this is why you can't trust or help anybody", the majority of this thread are comments basically saying the same thing.
It’s not even about killing the other person. It’s the fact that getting of the X is always the better option to protect yourself in a hostile encounter. No one should be looking to get in a gun fight; it rarely ends well. Lethal force should be used only as a step in safely fleeing. Are they blocking your escape route? Then use lethal force. That’s it.
More important to “get off the x”
Nice fantasy
Don’t keep a gun in your car
Imagine going to kidnap someone and not wearing shoes
meth is a hell of a drug
I'm guessing it is either staged or a road-rage incident
Some people get really upset that another vehicle is following them.
Some people get really upset that another vehicle is ahead of them.
🤣 how did i not see that
A lot of people in the comments running straight to guns is a little scary.
I think this guy did a great job in his self-preservation without any force.
I mean, if I'm being honest, I think the world is a little better off with evil kidnappers shot in such incidents. Stand your ground should be the default at the eyes of the law. That said, I would definitely do what this guy here did. I'm not putting myself in more risk to play the hero. Fuck that.
I don't think there is an issue with using force here if needed, but in most situations, getting away is much safer for the victim than trying to fight.
I agree wholeheartedly. Only an idiot would take unnecessary risk to his life. Just run, gun or no gun.
Run and gun!
Yeah, give em the ol Jason Statham
After watching again, I agree with the comments saying this is probably a road-rage incident not an attempted kidnapping.
It’s almost never kidnapping. People have a really inflated view on how often strangers kidnap someone
And how do you know he's an evil kidnapper? The issue in your country is that people get killed based on assumptions. That's why rampant gun violence and owning lethal weapons isn't a good solution. Leave the meth head to run around in the forest without shoes if he so wishes. The winner is the person who leaves the situation unscathed.
For starters, it's not my country. I'm Argentinian. That said, I doubt anyone here would see this as anything other than threatning. I do not think violent defense would have been anything other than stupid, but I firmly believe it should have been legal.
To be fair, there's not many good reasons for someone to abruptly stop driving, get out of their car, and beeline to a random stranger. Once the line of threatening someone is crossed, force is fair game.
That being said, I do agree the driver here had a good response. Although the ride home or out of the backwoods area must've been scary, assuming the other dude got back in his truck to pursue them.
What? You’re joking right? They’re scary for instantly thinking of a tool meant for self defense in a self defense situation? They’re not blood hungry murders dude, would you rather have them unlock and open the doors in this situation? Are you the dude from the white van?
no, they're scary for instantly fantasizing about using a gun, when what the actual driver did was the smartest option
If any situation called for the use of a firearm, it’s this one…
Seriously. I'm about as anti gun as they come but if you had one and had this situation happen, why the hell WOULDN'T you use it?
You literally are driving. Why would you stop driving, take your hands off the wheel, search for a gun, take it out, get it ready, open a window and shoot at a running guy instead of you know....
just slamming the pedal and driving off?
That is the problem with those gun people. at the very least they think that they are ready to start blasting in 4 seconds from each given moment. Crazy.
Every self defense class says escape whenever possible, that guy didn't have a gun so driver did the right thing, might've been an ambush too, even expertly trained soldiers would have difficulty killing 4 or 5 targets that surround you while driving a car.
Why wouldn’t you shoot someone running at you in that situation?
Naturally, it’s easier to drive away, but at the same time, unsure why it’s scary other than to say, people carry guns in their cars for these types of situations where their life might be in danger.
The alternative being a Reddit dork that will bleed out on the side of the road with their dick in their hand
Plot twist, the guy in the van was being kidnapped and running to the other car for help.
That'd be funny, seeing as it appears the guy was the driver. Although I guess there probably are cases where kidnappers have their victims drive them around.
Kidnapper sits in back seat with gun and forces you to do things like drive? Yes, that happens.
For more information on this topic, see the documentary "Speed" (1994).
Maybe there was a bee the van.
Wonder if it has anything to do with being absolutely blinded by his off road lights
It's 100% a road rage incident and it looks like the dude has his ultra bright high beams on antagonizing the van. Who the fuck tries to kidnap someone barefoot. To top it off there were at least two people in the camera car, one driving, one holding the camera, unless that's a dash cam.
Definitely not a dash cam. It pans to the left to keep the running guy in frame, then pans again to the right after, in a way that is very human.
The design is very human
Yeah, if you really crank the audio you can just make out van dude yelling something like, "The fuck's your problem?" You've also got to wonder why they were filming the van in the first place.
Me when I follow someone for half an hour with my headlights turned up to max very close behind their car and then film the last 15 seconds of them being fed up with it and exiting their car to make them look like an insane person whilst driving away.
It's crazy how much the lack of context can change a scene, huh?
You described my exact scenario last week. I was the fed up driver but at least the guy who hit me also jointly called 911 and we were both on the line with two different operators sitting in the same room, like it was some Seinfeld skit.
This is by far the most likely explanation, especially if this is in a Western country, yet Reddit jumps to the most convoluted conclusion that it's a kidnapping attempt. Fuck me.
Road rage or just a skit
Yep. There is a lot of information missing from this very short video
This comment should be pinned.
Once I was driving at night in my rural midwest state... and I had some jabroni come up fast behind me blinding the hell out of me. I thought it was some dumb fuck truck bro so I slowed to the speed limit. Then they started tailgating me and followed me into 15 minutes into town. Once in town they turned off and I could finally see it had been the county sheriff lol.
Why is everyone suspecting a kidnapping attempt when the guy runs out of his car barefoot?
My guess is just road rage. We weren’t shown what precipitated this reaction.
Probably the stupid bright headlights of the vehicle the cameraman is in.
Or it’s staged.
This right here is what my brain pictured when I got my concealed carry permit.
Kinda looks like driver got out of the situation a lot more easily just driving away.
redditors love getting off on imaginary consequence free murder
I honestly would have took that vans door off.
And risk a blown radiator and soon-disabled engine in the middle of nowhere… rather than just turning left a little extra?
You mean fantasized about?
Every single person who I have met who likes guns has a murder fantasy often multiple scenarios.
They’re not even shy about telling you, it’s a point of pride.
Exactly. A peek into these weird people’s fantasies that the world out to hurt them and they can be a hero if they have their gun with them. The person in the video drives away unscathed and this guys thinking how he would have preferred to shoot him.
What did they teach you when you got your permit? That avoidance is the best form of defense?
You know that shit went in one ear and out the other for him lol
And that would have helped how exactly?
Imaginary scenarios and paranoia fueled by fake videos like this?
If this was real, it would be gang/cartel activity. You would not survive pulling a gun.
Oooh tough guy
No, fantasized.
Scared mfers. Just drive around him lock the car.
You can react a lot faster by just continuing the action of driving.
You are less likely to be shot by the person running to your car, while you fidget a gun from your console, already placing yourself in even more danger.
Stop lying to yourself
r/whyweretheyfilming
Considering it's the driver who's running at them, I'm guessing it's a road rage incident and this isn't the start of it
Dash cams record continuously. The memory card is divided into space for N video files and the device just goes in a loop, overwriting the oldest file. If there is a high-g shock it tags the file as read only to preserve it.
Different devices have slightly different features. I HIGHLY recommend everyone use them. A teen blew through a red light and totaled my car. The video made it clear to the police and insurance it was 100% their fault.
While everything you said is true, this is clearly recorded from the passenger seat.
Speed bump and reverse/ forward a few times just to be sure. Gotta give them the Phil Leotardo treatment.
Richie Aprile ran over Beansie a couple of times but yeah Phil’s head was only ran over once
Was this a road rage incident or a crazy person?
Probably meth.
AI. This is AI.
Jesus fucking christ....
You can tell it’s not AI because the trees on the right leave frame, and then return exactly as before. AI would’ve generated something different
Text is waaaay too consistent and logical on the radio for this to be AI
How do you know? It looks pretty real to me.
I think the biggest giveaway is the way the full sprint begins as the driver leaves the van; as in no time to ground himself or anything, just full sprint on asphalt, barefoot. That said, the rest doesnt seem like AI, but in general it does feel wonky. I guess it's just the times we live in now, can't be sure.
Yeah you’re right it’s definitely the sketchiest part of the video. Dude was sprinting at 10 mph before he even made it out of the van.
We don't know the situation. The guy recording could have been tailgating earlier, beeping and God knows what else. Then the guy in the van had enough and went to beat his ass. How is this creepy? I just see road rage.
The hell look like a movie scence , btw man nice moves
Redditors from around the world: "Well done, excellent timing, he ran away quickly, probably avoiding the worst!"
American Redditors: "Why hasn't this happened to me?!? I have the gun in the glove compartment that I haven't been able to use yet. When will I get my first kill? 😢"
Surprised that van still had a door after all that
Driver has no audible reaction and shifts into reverse before the other driver even exits the vehicle. Fake af.
Everyone keeps assuming that it was some sort of ambush or kidnapping attempt. Lol. Def not. There are numerous indications, but I think the primary one is that the driver of the van isn’t going to get out. He’d stay in the driver’s seat to, you know, drive afterwards. This looked to me like a road rage incident. I’d put money on the fact that there was an incident leading up to this. That guy was PISSED. He was looking to beat that other driver’s ass, not kidnap him.
Edit: upon further viewing, the primary indication is not that the driver got out of the car, but rather that he is wearing no shoes when he does. My assessment stands. 😂