Instigating a confrontation is doing something out of the norm. Calling someone a bad name who bumps your car, or you for that matter, is not out of the norm. It also is not reasonable to conclude that yelling at a moron will likely bring about a need to then use deadly force. If the moron is doubly dumb and takes great offense at being told of their deficiencies after the "genius" hits you or your car then you obviously need to THEN back down but that is not to say you simply have to keep your mouth completely shut in the first place no matter what happens to you or your property just because you are armed. Now, you call the moron a name and threaten to beat him up and he pulls a knife/gun and you pull a gun and shoot him and you are in a world of hurt but only because you threatened violence or took verbal beratement to a point where any reasonable person would conclude you were picking a fight as there is a line where even verbal condemnation could be deemed excessive such that it might be reasonable to believe you were instigating a physical confrontation but that is not the same thing as an initial reaction to someone else's asinine behavior that causes you damage.
A lot of this is subjective, and could well be subjective in a courtroom, but odds are extremely good that you would be OK and not liable criminally (and all this assumes the judge/jury sees things how they really happened) if what you did was in fact within societal norms. You bump ANYONE's car, or ANYONE's person, and odds are you will get an earful and that is not in and of itself that person instigating a violent confrontation. Go bump a judges, or attorneys, or a cops car (or bump them with your car) and I assure you they will likely not keep their mouth shut and say nothing negative to the you just because you might maybe get all violent by getting yelled at for a few seconds. Yelling at someone who does you harm is totally reasonable and normal. It is taking it beyond that, or at least not trying to diffuse it once you realize the moron is looking for a fight, that will get you into trouble. Sadly most people who are so stupid and utterly irresponsible that they bump other people with their car are likely to be the same losers who would take offense at being berated for it.
All that having been said, getting older has mellowed me a lot and I would have likely held my tongue altogether, got the plate number and description of the guy so I could ID him later when he claimed he lent the car to someone else and it wasn't him, then call the cops to try for charges of hit and run or vehicular battery or assault with a deadly weapon, and then call my attorney to bring a civil action for vehicular battery and assault. Being passive/aggressive is probably the best strategy with these mindless dopes we have floating around our society who act the way the original poster described. Still, you do not have to remain totally mute either when you are done wrong just because you are armed, though that is probably best.
A lot of this is subjective, and could well be subjective in a courtroom, but odds are extremely good that you would be OK and not liable criminally (and all this assumes the judge/jury sees things how they really happened) if what you did was in fact within societal norms. You bump ANYONE's car, or ANYONE's person, and odds are you will get an earful and that is not in and of itself that person instigating a violent confrontation. Go bump a judges, or attorneys, or a cops car (or bump them with your car) and I assure you they will likely not keep their mouth shut and say nothing negative to the you just because you might maybe get all violent by getting yelled at for a few seconds. Yelling at someone who does you harm is totally reasonable and normal. It is taking it beyond that, or at least not trying to diffuse it once you realize the moron is looking for a fight, that will get you into trouble. Sadly most people who are so stupid and utterly irresponsible that they bump other people with their car are likely to be the same losers who would take offense at being berated for it.
All that having been said, getting older has mellowed me a lot and I would have likely held my tongue altogether, got the plate number and description of the guy so I could ID him later when he claimed he lent the car to someone else and it wasn't him, then call the cops to try for charges of hit and run or vehicular battery or assault with a deadly weapon, and then call my attorney to bring a civil action for vehicular battery and assault. Being passive/aggressive is probably the best strategy with these mindless dopes we have floating around our society who act the way the original poster described. Still, you do not have to remain totally mute either when you are done wrong just because you are armed, though that is probably best.
). I have full umbrella coverage ($10 million) to protect people from sueing my business. My deductable is $1000. If I make a claim my insurance will go up. Now do you think that it is fair for me to pay God knows how much more a year because some jack*ss can't drive worth a crap? I wil lbe civil but he or she had better take responsibility for their actions. I will call the police and get a report. I'm sorry if I'm not as nice or calm as you but I'm not going to be all nice if they start talking crap and it is their fault!
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