Would you have done this?

[billyscott]

General question. This guy sees a driver who seems intoxicated. He follows her and when she pulls into a BP, or a liquor store depending on which story you read, he blocks her in. I'll give him kudos for getting a drunk driver off the road but should he have blocked her in? What if she rammed his car? What if she stepped out with a gun and started firing? After Zimmerman I started asking myself "is this really necessary?"

What do you think?

 

http://www.wkrn.com/story/24204281/good-samaritan-catches-mom-murfreesboro

[Varmint]

I've got a 16 year old granddaughter on the road now.

If this had this happened in my area, she may have been the one to be potentially hit and killed if the woman had been allowed to continue.

I'll also give him major kudos for what he did.

[peejman]

Kudos to him.  Honestly, no I wouldn't have blocked them in.  I'd have called 911 and reported it and perhaps followed at a safe distance until the police arrived.

[daddyo]

I wouldn't even have followed her. Call 911 and let the law handle it from there.

[173rdABN]

Would have at least followed and waited for the cops to catch up to take care of the matter their way.

[PackinMama]

I totally would have done the same thing. Too many innocent lives are lost due to drunk drivers.

I would wait until she is in the store, then block her in and get out of my car and walk away (not letting her see where I went) while I was on the phone with 911.

That way, there would be no confrontations between the drunk person and myself....at least not until after the police get there.

[PackinMama]

Oh man! I just read the link. She was a drunk mom with her kids in the car!!! Hell yes I'd have done the same thing, confrontation or not!!!

[10-Ring]

We constantly talk about not getting involved in other people's problems and MYOB.  While generally these may be good ideas, zero tollerance is never a good idea.  I'm not sure that I would have done the same thing but I think what this fella did was the right thing.  Was he an officer of the law?  No.  Was he minding his own business?  No.  Did he get two young children and an unknown number of innocent drivers out of harms way?  Yes.  To my knowledge there is nothing illegal about blocking in a vehicle, and he did not physically detain her. 

[Dennis1209]

I believe the wise thing to do would be to call 9-1-1 and report it. If can be safely done, I'd follow the drunk driver at a safe distance and keep the 9-1-1 operator informed for interception by police.

 

What if your actions in getting involved changed the natural events that would have occurred for the worse, such as her being intoxicated and smashing her way out and driving away mad / scarred? What if by blocking her car you prevented the death of her children and another innocent driver in a head on crash that you will never be aware of?

 

Fortunately in this instance it worked out well and kudos to the concerned citizen.

 

When you insert yourself into a situation you assume some responsibility for the outcome, good or bad. In this day and age, more attention is paid to the negative than good. Just saying.

[LagerHead]

I'm sorry, but the folks that don't get involved are part of the problem in this country. When you see a wrong it my OPINION that you have a duty to get involved. Would you be able to live with yourself if you knew you had the opportunity to stop her and didn't and she went on to kill someone you knew, or God forbid, someone you loved? I know I wouldn't. I will choose the hard right over the easy wrong in this case. 

 

Would I have blocked her in? You bet your ass. And I would have taken her keys. Maybe I would have gotten charged with assault but given the circumstances I don't believe there is a jury that would have convicted me. 

[2.ooohhh]

I'm sorry, but the folks that don't get involved are part of the problem in this country. When you see a wrong it my OPINION that you have a duty to get involved. Would you be able to live with yourself if you knew you had the opportunity to stop her and didn't and she went on to kill someone you knew, or God forbid, someone you loved? I know I wouldn't. I will choose the hard right over the easy wrong in this case. 

 

Would I have blocked her in? You bet your ass. And I would have taken her keys. Maybe I would have gotten charged with assault but given the circumstances I don't believe there is a jury that would have convicted me. 

 

 

This^ after the other thread linking to the washington post site asking to recall your "gun number" all I could think of was 1 close friend who was shot and killed downrange(he was a Marine so it unfortunately comes with the territory). Glancing at this and thinking just how many friends/acquaintances have I lost to drunk drivers I came up with 7. 

[TMF]

This "mother" needs to be ground up into fertilizer.

The Good Samaritan needs a medal. There are times to get involved and there are times to keep your distance. He got it right.

[daddyo]

If and when society ever gets away from suing everyone else at the drop of a hat, then I'll get involved. I owe it to my family not to put myself in a situation where I could lose everything.

[LagerHead]

If and when society ever gets away from suing everyone else at the drop of a hat, then I'll get involved. I owe it to my family not to put myself in a situation where I could lose everything.

 

Show me a situation where someone preventing someone else from driving drunk lost everything. Hell, lost ANYTHING. Just one.

 

The truth is, the litigious society we all fear is more a product of TV news sensationalism than reality. Sound familiar? It should if you're a gun owner. 

[RED333]

For evil to win, good people must do nothing.

[Peace]

I usually call the police dispatcher.  If the situation looks to be acutely dangerous, I will follow at a distance - reporting location to dispatcher and be ready to help/act if possible.

 

Drunk driving is absolutely awful.

[TMF]

For evil to win, good people must do nothing.

I'll add that one still has to look at themselves in the mirror after making the choices they made. If that man had let her go and those kids or another innocent was killed he would carry the guilt. I'd rather risk getting sued than risk spending the rest of my life knowing that two little babies were killed due to my laziness or indifference.

I don't know what I would have done in this situation. I'd like to think that I'd do the same thing but I don't know.

[bersaguy]

Had a similar incident back before cell phone but back when CB radios were a hot item and Police monitored channel 9. I was following a guy one night on my way home from work and he was all over 3 lanes of interstate. I followed him for about 4 miles when Metro responded to my channel 9 request. I told them the situation and they asked me where I was and I gave them location and told them I would follow him until they could intercept him. He got off the interstate at Broadway in Nashville and was headed towards a night club Classic Cat. Just about 2 blocks from there I got a call on CB. THP was right behind me and they would take it from there. Metro still had not responded but THP sure did. Before they got him stopped he pulled into Classic cat lot with THP right behind him with his lights on. I followed in to see what happened. The Trooper approached the guy and told him that he wanted him to stand right where he was. The guy almost fell over while standing still as Metro arrived. The Trooper told him he was under arrest and he yelled at the trooper, "You can't arrest me, do you know who I am"? The Trooper said no sir and I don't really care who you are but I do know your going to jail. He cuffed him and placed him in the Metro Squad car and told Metro he would be down to the station to file the arrest report. Then the Trooper walked over and shook my hand and said "well done sir" and smiled and I got in my truck and left. Would I have blocked her car in and prevented her from leaving? Count on it. She would not have moved that car with them two children in it anywhere...................jmho

[monkeylizard]

I called 9-1-1 on a (presumably) drunk diver on OHB in Brentwood several years back. I followed at about a 1/4 mile distance and stayed on with the 9-1-1 operator directing the cops. I watched them pull him over then went on my merry way. I'd do the same thing again.

[Dustbuster]

I totally would have done the same thing. Too many innocent lives are lost due to drunk drivers.

I would wait until she is in the store, then block her in and get out of my car and walk away (not letting her see where I went) while I was on the phone with 911.

That way, there would be no confrontations between the drunk person and myself....at least not until after the police get there.

the call to 911 should get an officer pc to grab the driver anywhere.blocking her in,popping the hood and hiding is a good tactic!

[dralarms]

Great job. We need more people that will get involved.

[Gun Smith]

I've done similar and I'd do it again.   If it ever goes south I guess I'll just have to take my licks.

 

Once I was told they had to wait until the driver was back out on the road because the driver was on private property.   Troopers were waiting and pounced once the driver pulled onto the road.