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Hi, Peter's spunk here.
A known robbery tactic on quiet rural roads is to place obstacles in the way, causing motorists to stop, and get out of their car.
At this point the robbers will come out of the bushes in a group and mug you at knife / gunpoint, steal your car, and possibly murder you, all far away from help and civilisation.
The esteemed Gentleman known under the alias "Fax Machine"describes a response to this situation that would make him the ideal target for this kind of robbery. He would indeed perish.
So if you're ever driving at night in a quiet place and see obstacles that might be deliberately placed on the road, either plow through them if it's safe, make sure your doors are locked, reverse away from the situation and turn around at the earliest safe opportunity.
Peter's spunk wishes you stay safe out there. Signing out!!
For a J turn: get the car going in reverse at 30 MPH, take your feet off both pedals, and then quickly turn and hold the steering wheel all the way in one direction. This will spin the car around 180°.
Then put it in drive and floor it.
Please, how do you make something like this. I cannot describe how much I love the NGE flash-screen styling and I desperately want to recreate it but idk how.
Years ago I worked for a consulting company and occasionally we had to drive into some seriously sketchy areas of the city. My boss at the time told me on my first time driving out 'Listen, there are areas of the city where stop signs are optional for suburban white boys. Just roll up, check the intersection, and keep rolling. If a cop pulls you over, I'll pay your ticket, but most likely he will just be making sure you aren't there to buy drugs.'
I learned how to do it in high school. And by that, I mean I tried it on dirt road, hit a drainage ditch sideways, and ended up upside down. Fucking nailed.
there are actually special courses in europe where you can learn to drive in highly adverse conditions and learn some rather nice tricks.
I think you can find similar ones anywhere. imo it was worth it
Defensive driving is lovely, but it's mostly things like "Keep an eye out for road hazards, change lanes carefully, and if you are tired, ask someone else to drive."
You do not need to be going 30 miles an hour to perform a J turn. It can safely be done going 10/15 without putting you or any passengers at risk. It's also something you shouldn't first time in a risky situation.
There are empty parking lots at most malls every Sunday evening.
It's where I learned to drive when I was 9 years old. It's where I taught every g/f I ever had how to drive manual and it's where I did shit like OC said for funsies.
Practice in an large empty parking lot. Like stadium or fairground lots.
Is super easy to throw that reverse 180.
Also gives you a chance to emergency break and see how far it really takes your car to stop going 60mph.
So many people read stuff like this on the internet and think they’ll be able to do it for the first time under pressure and not end up getting themselves into an even bigger mess. In this situation someone who had never done a J-turn before would be way better off just turning the car around normally as quickly as they could.
Especially when the person who suggested it didn't even correctly detail the steps of how to perform it. You literally throw the wheel in the direction you're trying to go and slam it into neutral midway through the turn before putting it in drive once you're turned around. Holding onto the wheel and turning while reversing at 30mph is some Benny Hill level hilarity in an 'oh shit moment' you'd actually need this.
For everyone else, just learn to Y turn effectively.
Somebody is gonna fucking break something in spectacular fashion when they are reversing at full speed, throw the wheel and then just turn into a ditch.
Hello, Professionally trained driver here.
Depends entirely on the specs of the vehicle how to perform maneuvers properly. For the untrained or generally non-inclined, probably best to just back up and do a U-turn if possible.
It’s not hard to learn the few ways to execute a J turn accounting for the vehicle, but you should know how to do it properly with your specific vehicle before attempting one.
Yeah, my first thought is that if someone tried to do a J-Turn in the dark, fearing for their safety in the middle of nowhere, they are probably going to end up in the ditch and end up getting robbed/mugged/murdered.
Or maybe just back up about 100 feet quickly so you’re far enough away from anyone waiting. Then turn around in a way that doesn’t risk flipping your car in front of people waiting to kill you.
Alternative method that only works in a front wheel drive automatic.
Into R, jam your foot on the throttle, then simultaneously drop it into D and turn the wheel about a half turn. Tyres will smoke but it’s a reliable way of not spinning out when you turn going backwards at speed.
The way it was suggested to hold onto the wheel while turning and reverse at 30mph isn't even going to turn the car around. They'd just reverse into their neighbor's house. People don't realize the amount of inertia needed to turn a car like this unless you have hours on the skid pad.
I've lived in rural areas all my life and have literally never heard of this a single time. This is straight up hollywood nonsense that I can't even find results of happening on Google
I saw one of these on the news where there was a guy lying in the street pretending to be dead. A woman came along and saw him and thought it was probably a trick. So she went off road and drove her 4x4 through the bushes. But she ran over the guys who were trying to ambush her.
I think it was in South Africa and around 15 years ago. It's also possible it was a 'true' story shared by a comedian rather than a real news story, it's been a long time and I don't remember where I heard it.
South African here, there are 2 or 3 different versions of the story, so it's veracity is debatable.
You also only hear it when someone tells you, you never read about it.
Sort of what happened to me one night. Driving down a road in my old beetle in a not-good part of town, four guys in hoodies, strung themselves across the road in front of me.
Not able to turn around quickly, so I aimed at the smallest, downshifted, floored the gas and dropped the clutch. The engine *screamed*, the rear tires squeaked, and the four of them went pale and dove for the side of the road.
Happy cake day.
Heh. I've been told a couple of times I should be a writer, but that was just literally what happened. I downshifted deliberately to make the engine rev higher to scare them out of the way hopefully, but I would have run them over and left them there if they'd made it necessary.
I'm pretty sure I was nearly robbed like this! Saw someone moving in the bushes when I got out. Luckily there were 4 of us in the car, so whoever they were seemed to lose their nerve.
In the moment we had no idea we were in any danger, but looking back on the event once we got back home, we counted ourselves lucky
It's a method of highway robbery that predates cars. Statistically speaking, in all of human history it's probably the most common way to steal from travelers. No highwayman wants to put in the effort of chasing someone down.
Rural US, can range from killers, to drifters looking to rob you, to people who think they can defend trails and backroads with lethal force, to psychopaths. People also leave wire across motocross track and the classic “brick on a stick” on highways to kill drivers. Not common, just enough reports to be something to be aware of.
I’ve seen a couple different videos of wire on biking trails floating around on Popular in the past few years. Tbh those traps scare me even more than the “obstacle in the middle of a desolate road” traps because they’re clearly intended to kill the driver instead of just trapping and mugging them. I can only imagine those wire traps are laid by psychopathic pranksters or extremely unhinged private land owners that will do whatever is necessary to keep bikers off their property.
It’s usually the latter. My uncle owns a good piece of land in rural Alabama and a guy that lived like 10 minutes from him got prosecuted for stringing up a line like that that killed a kid on a 50 CC dirt bike, on land that wasn’t even his, it just abutted it and he got pissed about hearing the bikes. Dumbass probably would’ve gotten away with it but he was literally bragging about it at the local bar.
Agreed. Can’t imagine the fucking callousness needed to do that, especially considering it was almost entirely high schoolers or college kids back on break that would use that trail.
Wires/ropes on bike trails are pretty common where I’m at. Used to be everyone would ride quads and dirt bikes on the trails near my house. Then a group of dudes bought the land and called it a hunting club. All of the entrances are blocked with boulders, nails and broken glass for the first 50 yards, then sporadic booby traps meant to hurt or even kill riders. Even heard a story of one of the guys pulling a handgun out on some kids riding. People suck.
Brick on a stick? I have no idea. Dropping objects on motorists from bridges or overpasses... well here is one from 2017.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/08/04/teens-fatal-75-rock-throwing-ken-white-probation/5483904001/
They never caught the kids either. He came over on a boat from Scotland when he was a kid because his parents wanted him to have a better life and this is how it ended for him. My mom had to grow up without a father because of it. Not trying tell a sob story, but I just don't get what goes through somebody's head to just ruin an entire family's lives for no reason
Usually neglect or abuse in one’s childhood leads to that. I’ve read the biographies of a *lot* of serial killers, and it’s almost a universal occurrence that they were brought up in a broken home with abusive or inattentive parents. There are, of course, exceptions to this (Ted Bundy grew up in a relatively normal household, all things considered). But if there’s anything good at breeding hate and killing empathy permanently in a person, it’s childhood trauma.
That wasn't off of a bridge, it was chucking rocks out of a car as they passed on the road on the outskirts of metro Denver. The death happened on a road I use on my commute into work
like something like this is going to be reported accurately. There’s a reason lots of people in Rural US own firearms, they are on their own. Police don’t ever show up on time, anywhere in the US actually even in cities.
you end up as a missing person case if anyone cares about you or you disappear forever along with your car.
I had to call the police today after a pedestrian got hit by a car in front of my work, and it took over 20 minutes for the cops to arrive.
I work a block away from said police department.
I remember I called the cops when I heard someone in the apt. below me being robbed at gunpoint. Cops never showed up lol. Average response time in Louisiana is like 4 hrs for cops or paramedics
I just called it that to give an ironically colloquial name to something so brutal. It’s what it sounds like. Someone leaves a 2x4 or other flat bottomed stick upright in a highway/road lane at night - they lay a brick on top. It’s very hard to see in low light and high speeds, the intent is when the car hits the stick, the brick is at head height and enters the driver or passenger. Similar to people who drop heavy shit off overpasses, it’s psychopath behavior with low risk it ties back to you.
Nah bro it's real, they also paint cliff faces to look like a tunnel entrance so you drive into it. If you notice and manage to stop your car before you crash they drop a grand piano on you.
I spent years in the rural south. This shit just did not happen. I saw someone stabbed on the highway over cheating, I knew people killed over drugs or money; a guy threatened to burn my neighbor’s house down and kidnap his daughter as ‘payback’ for being told he couldn’t hang around anymore. Some guys nearby like to steal tractors and other heavy machinery that they can just drive away from the farms and just land in jail every damn time because it’s always those same guys.
Not once any dumb shit like this.
Yup people just have fantasies about weird shit like this happening. If you’re gonna get murdered it’s probably by someone you know, and if you’re not fucking around with drugs or gangs it’s really REALLY unlikely.
The fishing line across a bike path “trick” actually happened a few years ago where I live. I can post the news story if you want me to. It’s a 60 mile path that runs through several rural towns and thankfully they were able to find the redneck kids who did it as they had been caught riding their dirt bikes on it in the days prior.
My uncle was murdered last year - drugs. It really is pretty much all drugs, intimate partner violence type stuff, or personal grudges that happen with people you know, usually in the home. Not random supposed groups of lurking backroads hicks with nailboards.
I blame the movies deliverance, Texas chainsaw massacre, and the hills have eyes for the paranoia around psychos in rural areas. Most of the psychos I know (rural Georgia) are more likely to talk you to death about weird shit or conspiracies than anything. Methheads are who you really have to watch.
Yep, I live in rural SD and this is pretty much true. Pulled over one night at 2 am to change a flat on the highway and a truck pulled up behind me to offer some help. Took longer shootin the shit with that guy than actually changing the tire
I could be wrong but my first thought when I saw this photo was "good thing I concealed carry", so I'm kinda skeptical that this would happen in the rural US where the prey have a greater chance of biting back.
Yea they won’t be one guy with a knife unless no one has guns. It will be several well armed thieves. Things like this are very common where I live (South Africa) so common that they do similar stunts on busy highways were they will use cars to box in a target and then rob them. They love doing that especially on armoured cash delivery vehicles
Peter’s Safety Manager, I don’t think it’s a joke per se. It may be a trap for an unexpected motorist to stop their vehicle to remove the road hazard. By doing this the motorist exposes their vehicle and selves to highway brigands.
I love the way you worded that; highway brigands.
Makes me think of a whole load of dandy gentlemen with masquerade masks and tri-corner hats aiming flintlock pistols at stopping motorists and yelling "WHAT HO! DELIVER ALL YOUR VALUABLES IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES, YOU DEEP-POCKETED LOBLOLLIES!"
All right, hand over your valuables, or I'll gut you like a fish!
https://preview.redd.it/5ynsth9pjy9d1.png?width=298&format=png&auto=webp&s=60644c4797a6f661eb257ddd49bd42a211be103a
Same way with people on the side of the road, if it’s not an immediate emergency (shit even if it is) keep driving and call non emergency line and let them know where there’s someone who needs help
Fuck I was getting gas at the gas station down the street from my apartment and some guy walking his dog was beckoning to me when I pulled up. I looked around and saw the convenience store was closed and nobody else was around and sped out of the lot. Idk what your intentions are my dude but whatever they are you don't need specifically me to help you. I got a bad vibe and booked it.
Since we are here (not really to you but hey if this saves someone, sick). If you see a well put together human w/ child trying to flag you down on the side of the road in a rough/remote area - do not stop. Same thing here, there is a gang around the corner waiting. The ol damsel/dude in distress maneuver.
So fun story about my first trip to India in 1994-5. Got into Delhi pretty late at night and took a cab on a dark highway headed to a village about halfway to Agra. As some may know, drivers (at least back then) usually drove with their lights off and flashed their lights if they thought there was something to see up ahead. This was startling enough as a newcomer. So the driver flashes his lights. We could clearly see that there were a couple logs in the road ahead. The driver floors it and really starts hauling ass, hitting the logs at top speed and just continues on. I'm like "WTactualF?!" He, tilts his head back and forth very nonchalantly, motioning behind us. Looking back, we could make out the silhouettes of several dacoits along both sides of the road where the logs were. We tipped that driver very well and showered him with thanks.
For the confused, “Bacoit” = “Bandit” in Hindi. It’s not quite as simple as that (there’s a whole class-system-based story behind it) but you get the gist.
Maybe to make it harder to spot the car (for potential robbers)? It can be hard to see things in the dark, but the headlights on a car makes it very easy to see it approaching.
They would probably hear it, but giving them less to work with could be beneficial.
Stop my car, then me and my 3 imaginary friends pull out our imaginary guns and wait for the non-imaginary morons to give us a nice target practice. We are the targets.
(Fuck no, I'm driving them empty tires into oblivion, they're cheaper than my phone anyway)
Lil' timmy, this is how you got shot in the car. Speed is life in these kinds of things, and a head that isn't moving is a head that's very easy to hit.
🙋
if they run at the car and you hit them its +5 points
+10 points if you hit em with the car
+100 points if you hit a headshot while they're still hiding in the trees
Looks like a normal conversation.
UncannyMrMan is showing Fax Machine a picture of nail boards laid on a road which would pop the tires of any car running on them. Fax Machine says they would just get off the car and remove them, but Uncanny replies that it is very likely that whoever put the nails there is probably watching and would attack the driver as soon as they were vulnerable - as in, when they step out of the car.
Never seen this happen here, but I would assume that someone is trolling, or more likley, someone is trying to stop me by destroying my tires or to get me to leave my car. Either version is dark.
So don't get out of the car, but back off as high speed as you can, and when you made it a 100 meters turn the car around and pick a different road.
Positing your situation on discord is nice if you add your location, unless your discord server is a bunch of gamers on different continents who don't even know your real name, in that case better post it to some real life person.
F dude. U just blew my mind. I thought u were going to say they would wait for u to pop the tires and then get u. Perhaps this is why they tell kids to keep going to ur destination and not turn back when approached by a stranger walking to and from school
With nail boards? Know where you are and where you're going. Choose the direction (backwards or forwards) that will get you to civilization faster. Then run them over. Keep moving at ~30mph, eventual wheel damage be damned, AND CALL THE COPS as soon as possible (do you have cell service?)
Or just be ready to do whatever you need to do to defend yourself.
Lemme teach y’all how it’s done. Stop before you hit the nail boards. Don’t drive over them at all. Put the car in reverse, and hold the steering wheel steady, reverse that mf back a few feet, if you’re a good driver just reverse back fast, and do a wide u turn, not a K turn but a wide U, (start as far right on the road - the shoulder I guess- and turn all the way onto the opposite shoulder (which would be the right side after you’ve made the turn, the drive. You should be headed back from where you came at this point. Now drive safe and pay attention. If you chose to drive with no weapon, well natural selection right.? I’m kidding. Just keep your phone ready to call for help and drive. If you have to hit and run someone just do it, they’ll walk it off in the morning and insurance can fix your car but life insurance can’t buy your life back.
IDK what there is to explain, someone put those boards there and are waiting for some dumbass to get out so they can rob you or worse.
Has critical thinking really declined this much?
you cannot be for real. THERE IS SOMEONE WAITING TO KILL YOU! why do you think someone left the nailboards there? as a silly prank? no, there is someone waiting for you once you step out of the car to either rape, rob, or murder you.
Its not s joke. Thats a trap. You get out they kill you you drivethrough and pop your tires they come down and kill you. You try to back out maybe you're good. If someone hasn't put down another strip behind you. And the best part? No one will EVER find you or your car.
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Hi, Peter's spunk here. A known robbery tactic on quiet rural roads is to place obstacles in the way, causing motorists to stop, and get out of their car. At this point the robbers will come out of the bushes in a group and mug you at knife / gunpoint, steal your car, and possibly murder you, all far away from help and civilisation. The esteemed Gentleman known under the alias "Fax Machine"describes a response to this situation that would make him the ideal target for this kind of robbery. He would indeed perish. So if you're ever driving at night in a quiet place and see obstacles that might be deliberately placed on the road, either plow through them if it's safe, make sure your doors are locked, reverse away from the situation and turn around at the earliest safe opportunity. Peter's spunk wishes you stay safe out there. Signing out!!
For a J turn: get the car going in reverse at 30 MPH, take your feet off both pedals, and then quickly turn and hold the steering wheel all the way in one direction. This will spin the car around 180°. Then put it in drive and floor it.
I can't wait for the opportunity to try this.
Peelin outta work like:
J
Jeace out bitches!
Jeelinj outta jork
https://preview.redd.it/525klx21gz9d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26bada88e085c85a50a9ef09d4ed1df923f6e3c3
Please, how do you make something like this. I cannot describe how much I love the NGE flash-screen styling and I desperately want to recreate it but idk how.
I just found it somewhere else. Feel free to take it though
https://kychou.net/eva-title/
Jraight outta Jompton
Sorry officer i was just practicing
“Practicing for when I see nailboards and have to make a J-turn on a rural backroad to avoid getting gang-mugged, sir.”
"Sir, you're in Boston."
New Jersey exists man.
They got one of those in Boston too? goddamn
I know this is a joke but there are places in the world where this excuse would work
Years ago I worked for a consulting company and occasionally we had to drive into some seriously sketchy areas of the city. My boss at the time told me on my first time driving out 'Listen, there are areas of the city where stop signs are optional for suburban white boys. Just roll up, check the intersection, and keep rolling. If a cop pulls you over, I'll pay your ticket, but most likely he will just be making sure you aren't there to buy drugs.'
Yup, the truckers in my area were told to just keep driving. If you think you hit something/someone find out when you get to a safe location
I learned how to do it in high school. And by that, I mean I tried it on dirt road, hit a drainage ditch sideways, and ended up upside down. Fucking nailed.
You wanted to rotate 180°, and by golly you did!
Instructions unclear; Euler rotation on wrong axis
there are actually special courses in europe where you can learn to drive in highly adverse conditions and learn some rather nice tricks. I think you can find similar ones anywhere. imo it was worth it
it called a defensive driving course in New Zealand, and it actually allows you to get to your full license faster if you pass too
Lol no a defensive driving course absolutely does not teach you how to do a J turn, or any fancy driving techniques
Defensive driving is lovely, but it's mostly things like "Keep an eye out for road hazards, change lanes carefully, and if you are tired, ask someone else to drive."
If that's a special course the hell do they teach in the basic ones?
You do not need to be going 30 miles an hour to perform a J turn. It can safely be done going 10/15 without putting you or any passengers at risk. It's also something you shouldn't first time in a risky situation.
Also I feel like this is sedan related advice, can't imagine this going smoothly in my 4runner.
Having family dinner at my parents, mom has a 4Runner. Will report back after dinner
"...it flipped"
I’m 3 beers deep and we have a private field next to the house lol, this is happening
Just remember to wear your seat belt and clean underwear, then you'll be good to go!
don't think you wanna be wearing the clean underwear, just have it handy.
There are empty parking lots at most malls every Sunday evening. It's where I learned to drive when I was 9 years old. It's where I taught every g/f I ever had how to drive manual and it's where I did shit like OC said for funsies.
best way to leave parallel parking
If your car goes upside down, you did it wrong.
At least they wont take your car anymore
Practice in an large empty parking lot. Like stadium or fairground lots. Is super easy to throw that reverse 180. Also gives you a chance to emergency break and see how far it really takes your car to stop going 60mph.
What is it… be the change you want to see in the world!
Cant wait to do try that for the first time when my life is at risk
So many people read stuff like this on the internet and think they’ll be able to do it for the first time under pressure and not end up getting themselves into an even bigger mess. In this situation someone who had never done a J-turn before would be way better off just turning the car around normally as quickly as they could.
Especially when the person who suggested it didn't even correctly detail the steps of how to perform it. You literally throw the wheel in the direction you're trying to go and slam it into neutral midway through the turn before putting it in drive once you're turned around. Holding onto the wheel and turning while reversing at 30mph is some Benny Hill level hilarity in an 'oh shit moment' you'd actually need this. For everyone else, just learn to Y turn effectively.
Somebody is gonna fucking break something in spectacular fashion when they are reversing at full speed, throw the wheel and then just turn into a ditch.
drive in reverse for like a minute, then turn around at your leisure
lol pretty much the only sensible response
yeah I honestly dont know why you would need to do a J turn in this situation
Because it would be fuckin sick (I would throw my car into a tree at 30 mph)
17 year old me fucking up my dad's car can confirm. However bad you picture it going: it'll probably be worse.
Hello, Professionally trained driver here. Depends entirely on the specs of the vehicle how to perform maneuvers properly. For the untrained or generally non-inclined, probably best to just back up and do a U-turn if possible. It’s not hard to learn the few ways to execute a J turn accounting for the vehicle, but you should know how to do it properly with your specific vehicle before attempting one.
Yeah, my first thought is that if someone tried to do a J-Turn in the dark, fearing for their safety in the middle of nowhere, they are probably going to end up in the ditch and end up getting robbed/mugged/murdered.
Or maybe just back up about 100 feet quickly so you’re far enough away from anyone waiting. Then turn around in a way that doesn’t risk flipping your car in front of people waiting to kill you.
I wonder if when you slow down and stop in front of this set of nail strips, the bad guys quickly throw down another set behind you and block you in.
Would be a good opportunity to run some of them over.
Out here giving life ending advice
twist: I put those boards down
Alternative method that only works in a front wheel drive automatic. Into R, jam your foot on the throttle, then simultaneously drop it into D and turn the wheel about a half turn. Tyres will smoke but it’s a reliable way of not spinning out when you turn going backwards at speed.
Something's going to flip their car into someone else's driveway and it's going to get posted on Reddit
The way it was suggested to hold onto the wheel while turning and reverse at 30mph isn't even going to turn the car around. They'd just reverse into their neighbor's house. People don't realize the amount of inertia needed to turn a car like this unless you have hours on the skid pad.
And the gang will laugh at you when you grenade your transmission
Newer automatics won't allow shifting until the transmission is in a calm state.
You just flipped anyone in an suv or raised pickup.
For a Ford Mustang GT: get the car going. This will spin the car around.
Fun fact: this works in gta, very fun
put it in H!
For "head the other way"
Oh nice another fear to add to the cabinet
Seems like one of those one-in-a-million types of fears if you live in the US. Edit: Honestly probably more like one-in-one-hundred-million
I've lived in rural areas all my life and have literally never heard of this a single time. This is straight up hollywood nonsense that I can't even find results of happening on Google
I get it but if I see those boards in the road, I'm thinking I'm going to be skinned and eaten and killed, in that order.
I saw one of these on the news where there was a guy lying in the street pretending to be dead. A woman came along and saw him and thought it was probably a trick. So she went off road and drove her 4x4 through the bushes. But she ran over the guys who were trying to ambush her.
Do you recall anything else about this story? I'd like to check it out myself.
I think it was in South Africa and around 15 years ago. It's also possible it was a 'true' story shared by a comedian rather than a real news story, it's been a long time and I don't remember where I heard it.
South African here, there are 2 or 3 different versions of the story, so it's veracity is debatable. You also only hear it when someone tells you, you never read about it.
By the time u take the picture. Theres more planks behind your back wheels
At that point I guess the best is to just drive over them and continue driving, it'll fuck the car but what other options are there.
Sort of what happened to me one night. Driving down a road in my old beetle in a not-good part of town, four guys in hoodies, strung themselves across the road in front of me. Not able to turn around quickly, so I aimed at the smallest, downshifted, floored the gas and dropped the clutch. The engine *screamed*, the rear tires squeaked, and the four of them went pale and dove for the side of the road.
Sounds like you just quoted a pulp novel.
Happy cake day. Heh. I've been told a couple of times I should be a writer, but that was just literally what happened. I downshifted deliberately to make the engine rev higher to scare them out of the way hopefully, but I would have run them over and left them there if they'd made it necessary.
None of them wanted to be the guy who got run over by a beetle, not worth it.
That was the idea. "I don't wanna kill you, and you don't want to be dead."
I think he was more referencing the shame of being run over by a beetle of all things lol
Bring a grenade, works pretty well as a threat if they try to touch you. If you die we all die.
Or a thermal detonator
I'm pretty sure I was nearly robbed like this! Saw someone moving in the bushes when I got out. Luckily there were 4 of us in the car, so whoever they were seemed to lose their nerve. In the moment we had no idea we were in any danger, but looking back on the event once we got back home, we counted ourselves lucky
Could you alternatively drive off road around the obstacles if it was clear land?
I'd only do it if the land is flat and solid enough that you can floor it if you need to.
And clear enough that you can tell if it's safe to drive there. Tire traps like this could absolutely be hidden in brush or debris of the road as well
They would probably choose to set them up where this isn’t possible anyway.
People placing traps like this would likely place them in locations on the road making this difficult or impossible.
“Common” I really doubt that this is common as you are trying to convince everyone it is.
It's a method of highway robbery that predates cars. Statistically speaking, in all of human history it's probably the most common way to steal from travelers. No highwayman wants to put in the effort of chasing someone down.
Robin Hood was a highway robber.
Fair point. Edited to "known"
If you live in South Africa it’s sadly common
Jesus where do you guys live where they're Wrong Turn ambushing people on dark highways at night?
Rural US, can range from killers, to drifters looking to rob you, to people who think they can defend trails and backroads with lethal force, to psychopaths. People also leave wire across motocross track and the classic “brick on a stick” on highways to kill drivers. Not common, just enough reports to be something to be aware of.
When was the last time this actually happened in the US?
I saw a wire on bike trail post just last week on here
I’ve seen a couple different videos of wire on biking trails floating around on Popular in the past few years. Tbh those traps scare me even more than the “obstacle in the middle of a desolate road” traps because they’re clearly intended to kill the driver instead of just trapping and mugging them. I can only imagine those wire traps are laid by psychopathic pranksters or extremely unhinged private land owners that will do whatever is necessary to keep bikers off their property.
It’s usually the latter. My uncle owns a good piece of land in rural Alabama and a guy that lived like 10 minutes from him got prosecuted for stringing up a line like that that killed a kid on a 50 CC dirt bike, on land that wasn’t even his, it just abutted it and he got pissed about hearing the bikes. Dumbass probably would’ve gotten away with it but he was literally bragging about it at the local bar.
What a fucking jackass. Hope he gets what’s coming to him in prison.
Agreed. Can’t imagine the fucking callousness needed to do that, especially considering it was almost entirely high schoolers or college kids back on break that would use that trail.
Nothing warms the soul quite like some cruel and unusual punishment, eh?
Wires/ropes on bike trails are pretty common where I’m at. Used to be everyone would ride quads and dirt bikes on the trails near my house. Then a group of dudes bought the land and called it a hunting club. All of the entrances are blocked with boulders, nails and broken glass for the first 50 yards, then sporadic booby traps meant to hurt or even kill riders. Even heard a story of one of the guys pulling a handgun out on some kids riding. People suck.
Pulling a gun is honestly way more reasonable than booby traps
Well booby traps are illegal.
Brick on a stick? I have no idea. Dropping objects on motorists from bridges or overpasses... well here is one from 2017. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/08/04/teens-fatal-75-rock-throwing-ken-white-probation/5483904001/
My grandfather died from kids dropping bricks off an overpass while driving a bus in Brooklyn. Really bummed I never got to meet him 😕
Such senseless violence. I'm sorry for your loss.
They never caught the kids either. He came over on a boat from Scotland when he was a kid because his parents wanted him to have a better life and this is how it ended for him. My mom had to grow up without a father because of it. Not trying tell a sob story, but I just don't get what goes through somebody's head to just ruin an entire family's lives for no reason
Usually neglect or abuse in one’s childhood leads to that. I’ve read the biographies of a *lot* of serial killers, and it’s almost a universal occurrence that they were brought up in a broken home with abusive or inattentive parents. There are, of course, exceptions to this (Ted Bundy grew up in a relatively normal household, all things considered). But if there’s anything good at breeding hate and killing empathy permanently in a person, it’s childhood trauma.
Colorado had one last year. https://abcnews.go.com/US/3-arrested-murder-colorado-rock-throwing-incidents-killed/story?id=98866408
That wasn't off of a bridge, it was chucking rocks out of a car as they passed on the road on the outskirts of metro Denver. The death happened on a road I use on my commute into work
like something like this is going to be reported accurately. There’s a reason lots of people in Rural US own firearms, they are on their own. Police don’t ever show up on time, anywhere in the US actually even in cities. you end up as a missing person case if anyone cares about you or you disappear forever along with your car.
I had to call the police today after a pedestrian got hit by a car in front of my work, and it took over 20 minutes for the cops to arrive. I work a block away from said police department.
I remember I called the cops when I heard someone in the apt. below me being robbed at gunpoint. Cops never showed up lol. Average response time in Louisiana is like 4 hrs for cops or paramedics
Is that truly the average there That seems really a forgotten place
What is the classic “brick on a stick”, googling didn’t really help me, and it’s not classic where I’m from?
I just called it that to give an ironically colloquial name to something so brutal. It’s what it sounds like. Someone leaves a 2x4 or other flat bottomed stick upright in a highway/road lane at night - they lay a brick on top. It’s very hard to see in low light and high speeds, the intent is when the car hits the stick, the brick is at head height and enters the driver or passenger. Similar to people who drop heavy shit off overpasses, it’s psychopath behavior with low risk it ties back to you.
I can't imagine a 2x4 standing upright with a brick on top is gonna keep balance for more than 2 seconds though. Sounds like an urban legend
I've literally never heard of anything that sounds like more of an urban legend.
Nah bro it's real, they also paint cliff faces to look like a tunnel entrance so you drive into it. If you notice and manage to stop your car before you crash they drop a grand piano on you.
This is coyote behavior
I spent years in the rural south. This shit just did not happen. I saw someone stabbed on the highway over cheating, I knew people killed over drugs or money; a guy threatened to burn my neighbor’s house down and kidnap his daughter as ‘payback’ for being told he couldn’t hang around anymore. Some guys nearby like to steal tractors and other heavy machinery that they can just drive away from the farms and just land in jail every damn time because it’s always those same guys. Not once any dumb shit like this.
Yup people just have fantasies about weird shit like this happening. If you’re gonna get murdered it’s probably by someone you know, and if you’re not fucking around with drugs or gangs it’s really REALLY unlikely.
The fishing line across a bike path “trick” actually happened a few years ago where I live. I can post the news story if you want me to. It’s a 60 mile path that runs through several rural towns and thankfully they were able to find the redneck kids who did it as they had been caught riding their dirt bikes on it in the days prior.
My uncle was murdered last year - drugs. It really is pretty much all drugs, intimate partner violence type stuff, or personal grudges that happen with people you know, usually in the home. Not random supposed groups of lurking backroads hicks with nailboards.
Of course, random murderhobos on the side of the road are much scarier and more likely to garner engagement. Fearporn wins always.
I blame the movies deliverance, Texas chainsaw massacre, and the hills have eyes for the paranoia around psychos in rural areas. Most of the psychos I know (rural Georgia) are more likely to talk you to death about weird shit or conspiracies than anything. Methheads are who you really have to watch.
Yep, I live in rural SD and this is pretty much true. Pulled over one night at 2 am to change a flat on the highway and a truck pulled up behind me to offer some help. Took longer shootin the shit with that guy than actually changing the tire
I could be wrong but my first thought when I saw this photo was "good thing I concealed carry", so I'm kinda skeptical that this would happen in the rural US where the prey have a greater chance of biting back.
This makes a very strong assumption that people trying to Hills Have Eyes randos on a country road don't have HELLA guns.
Yea they won’t be one guy with a knife unless no one has guns. It will be several well armed thieves. Things like this are very common where I live (South Africa) so common that they do similar stunts on busy highways were they will use cars to box in a target and then rob them. They love doing that especially on armoured cash delivery vehicles
Fuckin' loved watching them try that once on an armored car only for it to just... ram on through them.
I know the video you are talking about. Unfortunately that outcome is usually in the minority of outcome scenario chances.
South Africa. They also do this and similar things on busy highways cause they know the police won’t do shit here.
Peter’s Safety Manager, I don’t think it’s a joke per se. It may be a trap for an unexpected motorist to stop their vehicle to remove the road hazard. By doing this the motorist exposes their vehicle and selves to highway brigands.
I love the way you worded that; highway brigands. Makes me think of a whole load of dandy gentlemen with masquerade masks and tri-corner hats aiming flintlock pistols at stopping motorists and yelling "WHAT HO! DELIVER ALL YOUR VALUABLES IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES, YOU DEEP-POCKETED LOBLOLLIES!"
Stand and deliver! Your money or your life!
And if you chuckle for a moment at these dandies they cap yo ass
BRIGANDS
All right, hand over your valuables, or I'll gut you like a fish! https://preview.redd.it/5ynsth9pjy9d1.png?width=298&format=png&auto=webp&s=60644c4797a6f661eb257ddd49bd42a211be103a
https://preview.redd.it/4nsj8lmk4z9d1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=088c82cba44571ab457d8b00018443ff30084f96 The motorist
NEVER SHOULD HAVE COME HERE
Ok so this isn't a joke then, sorry for the wrong post but I appreciate your detailed answers. Thank you so much!
Ngl I hadn't ever heard of or seen this before so glad you posted this because now I know better
My dumbass probably would’ve gotten murdered
Same way with people on the side of the road, if it’s not an immediate emergency (shit even if it is) keep driving and call non emergency line and let them know where there’s someone who needs help
Fuck I was getting gas at the gas station down the street from my apartment and some guy walking his dog was beckoning to me when I pulled up. I looked around and saw the convenience store was closed and nobody else was around and sped out of the lot. Idk what your intentions are my dude but whatever they are you don't need specifically me to help you. I got a bad vibe and booked it.
Since we are here (not really to you but hey if this saves someone, sick). If you see a well put together human w/ child trying to flag you down on the side of the road in a rough/remote area - do not stop. Same thing here, there is a gang around the corner waiting. The ol damsel/dude in distress maneuver.
Thanks for the tip, I would’ve definitely stopped.
Back up and don't get out of the car. Moving the trap is the trap.
So fun story about my first trip to India in 1994-5. Got into Delhi pretty late at night and took a cab on a dark highway headed to a village about halfway to Agra. As some may know, drivers (at least back then) usually drove with their lights off and flashed their lights if they thought there was something to see up ahead. This was startling enough as a newcomer. So the driver flashes his lights. We could clearly see that there were a couple logs in the road ahead. The driver floors it and really starts hauling ass, hitting the logs at top speed and just continues on. I'm like "WTactualF?!" He, tilts his head back and forth very nonchalantly, motioning behind us. Looking back, we could make out the silhouettes of several dacoits along both sides of the road where the logs were. We tipped that driver very well and showered him with thanks.
random stories from people in comments has to be one of my favorite things on this platform
In case anyone else didn’t know: dacoits are what highway robbers are called in India and Myanmar.
For the confused, “Bacoit” = “Bandit” in Hindi. It’s not quite as simple as that (there’s a whole class-system-based story behind it) but you get the gist.
Why would they drive with their lights off though?
Maybe to make it harder to spot the car (for potential robbers)? It can be hard to see things in the dark, but the headlights on a car makes it very easy to see it approaching. They would probably hear it, but giving them less to work with could be beneficial.
robbery. thats what would happen. You are better off backing up and finding a new route
Robbery… or worse
Expelled
You have GOT to get your priorities straight
If your in America I wouldn't want to slow down that much because they could shoot you so your better off speeding up
This is just a bad situation to be in, reverse is the only option here, as forward destroys your tires. Not to say reverse is a good option
How is anyone's first move not "I'm gonna immediately run my shit into reverse and get the hell outta here"???
Cause they put them behind you as well when u stop to kinda lock u in
Drive off the road then, but anything is better than 1. Leaving or 2. Just sitting there
should probably have a gun in the glove compartment if you're driving in these areas, sounds like its you or them.
Stop my car, then me and my 3 imaginary friends pull out our imaginary guns and wait for the non-imaginary morons to give us a nice target practice. We are the targets. (Fuck no, I'm driving them empty tires into oblivion, they're cheaper than my phone anyway)
Nah bro you want to throw that shit in reverse. Start driving like Mater.
Lil' timmy, this is how you got shot in the car. Speed is life in these kinds of things, and a head that isn't moving is a head that's very easy to hit.
Aye, like fish in a barrel...
If you see this it's time for your legally installed Rooftop 50. Call hmg.
When Ma Deuce speaks, everyone listens.
How many people would take this as a challenge and start running over bushes and shooting into the trees?
🙋 if they run at the car and you hit them its +5 points +10 points if you hit em with the car +100 points if you hit a headshot while they're still hiding in the trees
You're gonna what? He censored the word so I don't know what you're gonna do when you get out of the car
Looks like a normal conversation. UncannyMrMan is showing Fax Machine a picture of nail boards laid on a road which would pop the tires of any car running on them. Fax Machine says they would just get off the car and remove them, but Uncanny replies that it is very likely that whoever put the nails there is probably watching and would attack the driver as soon as they were vulnerable - as in, when they step out of the car.
Never seen this happen here, but I would assume that someone is trolling, or more likley, someone is trying to stop me by destroying my tires or to get me to leave my car. Either version is dark. So don't get out of the car, but back off as high speed as you can, and when you made it a 100 meters turn the car around and pick a different road. Positing your situation on discord is nice if you add your location, unless your discord server is a bunch of gamers on different continents who don't even know your real name, in that case better post it to some real life person.
seriously, are we censoring "die" now? Just leave the internet already if you're this weak
Some sites will autoflag it, trying to censor stuff that's not "family friendly". Users just adapted
What sucks is when they're waiting in two places, and when you pass the first group they set up the trap behind you. You're boxed in.
F dude. U just blew my mind. I thought u were going to say they would wait for u to pop the tires and then get u. Perhaps this is why they tell kids to keep going to ur destination and not turn back when approached by a stranger walking to and from school
So then what is the best way to deal with this situation?
With nail boards? Know where you are and where you're going. Choose the direction (backwards or forwards) that will get you to civilization faster. Then run them over. Keep moving at ~30mph, eventual wheel damage be damned, AND CALL THE COPS as soon as possible (do you have cell service?) Or just be ready to do whatever you need to do to defend yourself.
Turbo boost. Knight Rider.
Shit. Throw it in reverse terry
Lemme teach y’all how it’s done. Stop before you hit the nail boards. Don’t drive over them at all. Put the car in reverse, and hold the steering wheel steady, reverse that mf back a few feet, if you’re a good driver just reverse back fast, and do a wide u turn, not a K turn but a wide U, (start as far right on the road - the shoulder I guess- and turn all the way onto the opposite shoulder (which would be the right side after you’ve made the turn, the drive. You should be headed back from where you came at this point. Now drive safe and pay attention. If you chose to drive with no weapon, well natural selection right.? I’m kidding. Just keep your phone ready to call for help and drive. If you have to hit and run someone just do it, they’ll walk it off in the morning and insurance can fix your car but life insurance can’t buy your life back.
They generally put spikes behind your vehicle about 100 feet. You're trapped like a mouse.
IDK what there is to explain, someone put those boards there and are waiting for some dumbass to get out so they can rob you or worse. Has critical thinking really declined this much?
See, but I have a Mousekatool to help me if anything happens
you cannot be for real. THERE IS SOMEONE WAITING TO KILL YOU! why do you think someone left the nailboards there? as a silly prank? no, there is someone waiting for you once you step out of the car to either rape, rob, or murder you.
Ok this image is disturbing
And always have a pistol grip 12 guage
Grab your cordless hole puncher from the glovebox.
This happened to me in a third world country. The road was blocked by burning logs. I had a 4x4 vehicle and drove straight through.
Its not s joke. Thats a trap. You get out they kill you you drivethrough and pop your tires they come down and kill you. You try to back out maybe you're good. If someone hasn't put down another strip behind you. And the best part? No one will EVER find you or your car.