Scenario : alone in the car in a parking lot

I have read a lot of interesting responses and I've given this some thought.

I just cannot see how jumping out of a moving vehicle is conducive to long life. Even at low speed you are likely to have serious injuries, not to mention, what does your vehicle do when you leave the driver seat and no one is in control of it. What if it hits a kid!

I also do not agree with the act of intentionally crashing your vehicle into a stationary object, or another vehicle, parked or not. You are just as likely to injure or incapacitate yourself as you are the BG.

As an added bonus, you run the risk of injuring another person in the other vehicle...what if it's a sleeping baby and her mother?!

I like the idea of escaping the vehicle as soon as the BG gets in. Perhaps a training program of quickly exiting a vehicle would be beneficial.
 
I'd say that the situation is a bad one to be in, and bailing out immediately while saying that the guy can have the car would be best. The only reason a criminal moves you from crime scene 1 to crime scene 2 is to do things to you he couldn't do at crime scene 1.

I also agree with Son Of Vlad Tepes that it is best to avoid the situation altogether by preventive means. If you're waiting for someone, don't park, idle curbside with clear exit route. We talk about buying quality guns in terms of "what is your life worth?" but saving $5 of gas isn't worth the exposure. Keep vehicle in drive, foot on the brake. Windows up, doors locked, pay attention for returning SO.
 
I just read my initial response and all I have to say..man, did I come off as one of those typical sanctimonious gun forum jerk guys we all hate! :D

Nice discussion though, and while I still stand behind the idea that prevention is best here, and the second best is to get out ASAP while the car is still not moving, I have to say that in DESPERATE circumstances I could see myself thinking about some DESPERATE Crash the Car Movie Stunt, but something like that is a pure gamble pure and simple and probably not the best option.

I think you'd have better luck by pretending to lose consciousness +/- go into "an epileptic fit", or to look terrified, clutch your chest and say "CALL 911 I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK" and then "pass out". And then let the guy rifle through your pockets (unless you are carrying, which obviously makes the point that while carrying you have to be even more vigilant not to let some dirt bag get the drop on you), or even to reach over, or exit to come around, in order to push you out of the car. This of course should open up other avenues of escape.

Anyway this is one of those "impossible scenarios" that is best avoided, so rather than exercise one's neurons about how to defeat something like this, we ought to focus strategically on not being caught with our nickers down like that! Is anyone offering a James Bond ejector passenger seat set up?
 
Really good scenario and discussion. I think getting out as fast as possible is a great idea. You could probably be out in the two or three seconds that the BG would need to decide to shoot (at) you. I just hope that I could make the deliberate decision and move on it fast enough. :eek:
 
saw a movie similar to the scenario mentioned by tundranick ... blv it was Ronin (an amazing movie by the way if you haven't seen it.) BG was armed and holding gun on another BG ... the driver hit the gas, then braked hard, by the time the BG in the passenger seat recovered, he had a bullet in his ear ... I have also been told .. and read .. that you NEVER allow yourself to be taken to a second crime scene ... if the BG wants to take you elsewhere, it's likely you are about to become deceased anyhow ... I'd take my chances in a store parking lot ... I've told my wife that very thing many times; tho she won't carry, I just got her one of those new Kimber CH shooters and we've praticed with it a number of times ...
 
While I agree, in principal, that you should exit the vehicle, I am concerned at how the BG might interpret a rush, or quick move, to get out of the car. It might very well be interpreted as the beginning of hostile action against him -- as in you trying to pull a gun on him. The likelihood increases, then, that he shoots you -- not to take the car, but to protect himself from your defensive action.

What if, instead, you pull the keys out of the ignition, place them on the seat telling him "the car is yours but I'm not leaving with you," and, in as non-threatening a manner as possible, carefully exit the vehicle getting to cover ASAP.

If you get shot, he was going to shoot you anyway. But if he is not startled into shooting, you just might survive the encounter.

CAVEAT: I am keenly aware that it is infinitely easier to think calmly and coolly about options like this in front of my computer as opposed to having a gun pointed at me and being in absolute fear that my future existence may be measured in seconds as opposed to years.

<><Peace
 
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I agree with some previous answers. First Id offer to let him have the vehicle. If he refuses then he obviously intends to do harm to my person and is not just interested in the car.

From there I have two options:

1.) Drive away, gain enough speed to kill him and try to hit an immovable object.

2.) Make a run for it. I'd rather be shot in the back and stagger off to be found than shot execution style in the secluded field of his choice an become "badly decomposed" if ever found.

Niether is preferable to keeping the doors locked and a handgun with which to empty his brains onto the floorboard. :)
 
Great discussion topic... happens all the time! Had one of these happen at a local movie rental place a few weeks ago (not to me, of course). There were 2 BGs, one entered front seat, and the other the rear seat. Made the driver drive around to several ATMs and withdraw money. The victims somehow exited the vehicle and ran at some point.

I like 2 of the solutions offered here:
1) Exit ASAP
2) Gas/Brake combo, then exit ASAP

Several mentioned throwing car in reverse and/or park. Ever try that??? Modern transmissions are designed to ignore such measures, for the safety of the driver. Too many movies... I guess!!!???

The last option, if even possible, would be to covertly draw and shoot the perp. When I drive through an ATM, I always tuck my pistol under my left thigh, along with my wallet and the money I withdraw. The thing I noticed is that the bank exit leads you to a dead stop at a signal light within 200 feet of the exit. Nice design, huh? If I were a perp, that setup makes for easy pickings. That's why I move my weapon, from IWB to under my thigh, before I enter the bank drive-through. As I complete my transaction, I reach from ATM to thigh several times. If something ever happened - my P-3AT would be in hand in less than a second.
 
There used to be a TV show called Tough Target one episode spoke to this scenario and recomended crashing your car into the nearest object preferably another car as this attracts the most attention, not what a BG wants, people looking to see if its there car now your car is more easily idetified more attention = BG less likley to shoot you too many wittnesses and is more likley to get out to make an escape... Sounds like good advice its always risky when dealing with a criminal bottom line is don't go where he wants you that will be the second crime scene
 
Number one rule of survival is NEVER GO WITH THE BADGUY ANYWHERE.
I agree with PBP, if he/she's gonna shoot you sitting in, or exiting your vehicle...they were going to kill you anyways.

I'll take my chances getting shot in public...at least there will be witnesses at their murder trial.
 
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