Road Rage !

So im driving home for my nan's today and im doing 40 mph in a 30 mph zone when all of a sudden i notice a car approaching real fast in my rear view mirror this guy is almost touching my bumper, this guy is flashing his lights waving his arms around like a right nut-case , any way i keep my speed at 40mph , then when i approach a round-about this guy pulls into the next lane and cuts me up and then stops his car so i cant move my car ! "im thinking what shall i do" this guy jumps out of his car and starts saying im driving like a O.A.P and he is going to stomp on me, at this point im out of my car and he approches me , he is walking fast towards me cursing me with his fists clenched , and im saying to him relax, chill etc , and then i thought "Forget" this and i hit him in the chest POW as hard as i could the guy drops to the floor and after about 30 secs a few people get out of there cars and say to me is everythink ok with me and im saying im good when they was a little crowd around this guy gets up again saying he is now ready to kill me and all the public hold him back " he was on the floor gasping for breath for about 5 mins ! now this guy now says he is calling the police to have me done for assult , the police arrive take my details and say they shall be in touch !

WHAT A DAY !

 

It may be hard to prove self defence, but the guy can charge for assult and battery.
claim that you were in imminent danger, that may help.

 

there was a family in a car opposite and they said they would happily be my witness fingers crossed tho !

 

Did you get names and numbers of the people that witnessed this event??
Doh!!! I hate when I get leap frogged on a post :bang:

 

^The police got the witnesses details ! ^

 

I think you will be fine then.

 

Not Necessarily, the amount of successful Defences of the "pre-emptive strike" in the UK in the last 5 years is statistically insignificant.

There is a good chance you will be put through the ringer for this. Just hope you meet an understanding judge, and that the prosecution Lawyer (should it go that far ) isn't a sadistic jobsworth.

 

I reckon you will be ok, because he was aggressive from the beginning, and you were fearing for your safety. If you hadn't of stopped him, he might have done something worse to you. From you description, it sounds like there wasn't something mentally unstable about this guy, eg, a mental illness, or on drugs.
I don't think you used undue force...

 

If you have witnesses I think that you should be fine.

 

Sounds to me, from reading what you have stated, along with reading the other members comments, you should be okay. If this person was ranting and raving, carrying on, he deserved the controlled response that you gave - If you felt threatened - Sure we are trained, depending on level to handle situations like these, but when they come up, adrenalin can be your greatest advisary or enemy. some people act differently to others, human nature. The use of undue or unnecessary force is a real issue when it comes to the courts, but let say that the person came up to you and was carrying on as above, got in your face and also spat on you, that combined with the fact that he tailgated you, cut you up, left you with nowhere to move, but to defend yourself, as he was the aggressor, should leave you in fairly good stead, but the law can be an ass at times. If you get good representation and a good magistrate you will be fine.

Good luck

Mark

 

If the legal system decides to work this time you will be fine. If it carries on as it normally does then you could be in trouble. Is total crap that you can't even be sure if self-defense is ok these days. Good luck.

PS: the laws badly need to be changed to stop protecting the criminals and hurting the victims

 

I think you made two mistakes. One, you got out of the car. There's no reason for that. Two, you hit the guy for no reason. Two stupid things, now pay the consequences.

 

What should he have done? Just let the guy smash up his car? Defend the crim, way to go Sandus.

It's people like you that keep crooks out of jail, you're not an Australian judge by chance?

 

Explain to me why he needed to get out of the car in the first place. Maybe I'm not that smart, but I'm pretty sure cars made these days can reverse. Take a detour and avoid conflict. It's certainly quicker than an altercation.

And how is this guy a criminal? I read nothing of damage to anybody's vehicle, and the other guy didn't swing first. Then I read in another thread that this guy wants to go about randomly issuing vigilante justice and it further cements my belief that this was an avoidable situation. The only criminal I see is the martial artist who hit first.

 

Talk all day Sandus. Let's see your cool calm attitude when it happens to you. You're a real hero as an armchair commentator.

You assume he could reverse out of it, given there were enough witnesses there it would be probable there were cars behind in his lane. If the guy is charging at you with fists up, tell me, what was he going to be doing? Offering you a cup of tea? Also, threatening to kill him is definately criminal in this country.

As for this other thread you mention, if that is indeed true then I myself would wonder about his motives also. Could you link it?

I think the reason I get so angry at this stuff is that it seems everyone these days feels sorry for the jerks who instigate the trouble not the people who actually stick up to them.

 

going by grizzlys attitude on here I would have to agree with sandus. i find it hard to believe he is as innocent as he makes out.

either way, court could be dodgy. I was put in a similar situation of having to pre emptively attack someone who i knew was going to hit me, luckily there was no one around to see it and they evidently decided not to press charges. as a martial artist, if it does get to the point where lawyers are involved, a good laywer will use your studies to stick you to the wall. its happened to guys I know, and I dont doubt it would have happened to me.

 

http://martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41736

Tell me if that sounds like he's not looking for trouble.

 

Yeah it does sound a bit extreme. I have to admit that I myself get annoyed at those kinds of people though. I don't think I would want to bash them but I would be lying if I didn't say it bothered me somewhat. It is a real pity that the law is so pathetic that it doesnt sort out those kinds of trouble makers.

 

Thanks for the nod of confidence! if i was looking for trouble Sandus i would have no problem finding it where i live, which i dont !

as for me making 2 mistakes :

1 i was in my sisters car , i wasnt going to let some fool damge my sisters car and they was traffic behind me = No Where to go

and 2 why should i just sit in a car and await a random attack whilst sitting buckled up "sitting duck" a feel i would of been worse off if i would of just stayed in the car .

this is the only time i have ever used my training , and i glad it was effective.

why should we all spend hours training , then when we need it , STAY IN THE CAR !

 

Grizzly,

I am not a fence sitter, but I do agree, to a certain point, on what you did in the situation you were in, but you should have waited till the person tried to take a hit at you.

For the others, think about the situ, what if you had your young family in the car, do you wait until someone has a slight advantage over, plus the fact that you are sitting in the car, or do you be pro-active, rather than re-active.