So a couple of guys tried to get me to pull over tonight...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I went for a drive tonight (1 a.m. actually) and was driving down a major artery, but with virtually no traffic, when these two young guys behind me in a pickup truck started flashing their lights and then pulled up next to me, frantically honking their horn and signaling for me to roll down my window.

I did and the driver started yelling that I was throwing off sparks under my truck like crazy and it was really bad. I said thanks, I’d check it out. As we drove slowly along he kept stressing how bad it was and gesturing to suggest I ought to pull over right away. Again I told him thanks and that I’d check it out. He said “No man, really, you’re thowing off sparks like crazy. It’s really serious. Your truck’s gonna blow up!”

I thought something was fishy because anything that would throw off sparks like that would make quite a bit of noise and nothing was. Still, I told him thanks and reiterated that I would check it out. Yet again he tried to convince me how bad it was. So then we got stopped at a light and I asked where the sparks were coming from - behind a wheel, under the middle of the truck, what? - and he just kept shouting that it was coming from under the truck and it was really bad. So again I said thanks, I’d check it out. They looked kind of puzzled that I didn’t seem more alarmed, but after waving to each other, they turned off, but they drove slowly as if to see whether I was going to pull over and get out.

Anyway, long story short, I drove a few more blocks, turned down a side street and looked to see if there was any flickering light on the pavement coming from under my truck. Nothing. So I drove to Target, turned off my lights and drove toward their glass doors. No sparks. Then I drove past a Barnes & Noble and could see no sparks coming from under my truck in their large front windows.

So obviously the sparks thing was bullshit. It might have just been a prank and these guys thought it would be funny to try to make me react with alarm, or they might have been trying to get me to pull over so they could hold me up. Either way, the whole thing was bullshit, and the moral is:

Don’t let anyone convince you that something is dangerously wrong with your car and to pull over and get out right away. Drive to a safe, public place first and then get out to check it out. Unless you’ve got a fire going on - in which case there’d be smoke and probably some sort of burning smell - there isn’t much that can go wrong with your car that will cause it to explode while you’re driving peacefully down the street.

So, keep safe and don’t let the bastards get ya!

2

If they were trying to stop you to hold you up I’m surprised they didn’t try anything at the red light.

3

We were sitting side by side at the light with no one in front of us (or anywhere else for that matter). At the light I could take off instantly; out of the truck I would have been easy pickings.

4

Good point.

5

Very good advice, thanks for posting this!

6

Yeah, I heard about this. Some type of gang initiation!

7

Glad you had the good sense to turn on your bullshit meter. It’s scary enough out there.

8

Smart of you SA. But also a good thing that you did check up on it yourself to make sure nothing was wrong.

One night as I (a young-ish female) was just pulling away from the curb in front of my office (about 11 pm), a car on the cross street came by without its headlights on. I caught up to the car at a stoplight and rolled down my window to motion to the driver. I realized the car was full of a bunch of gangsta-looking young men but still wanted to be a good samaritan. I was nervous but felt secure enough in my own car with the engine running, so I got their attention. Suddenly, they rolled down their windows and were yelling and gesturing to me as I was to them. At the same time, we all realized that we were shouting the same thing. “Headlights!” :smack:

In my desire to get them to put their headlights on, I hadn’t noticed that I didn’t put mine on. We all just sat at the stoplight laughing our butts off and drove off with headlights shining, waving and honking at each other. :smiley:

It’s good to have your trouble radar working all the time. But I’m glad that sometimes it turns out to be unnecessary.

9

Hahahaha! That is too good! I’m gonna have to add that to my repertoire of funny stories. :smiley:

Thanks for your comments everyone.

10

Response:

That’s just pieces of the neighbors dog Sparky dropping off. I’m just glad it wasn’t the neighbor’s cat Napoleon Dynamite.

11

Speed Racer: Snake! You’ve got to pull over! Your car is leaking oil very badly!
Snake: Yeah, that’s an old one…
Snakes Car: Kablooey!
Yeah, there’s a lot of junk tucked away in my brains.

12

You should have yelled back to them: “Thanks, it’s the body in the trunk weighing down the back of the car. Once i get to where I can bury it, things should be fine”.

:stuck_out_tongue:

13

:smack: Dang! Where were you when I needed you?

:slight_smile:

14

All I can say is I’m glad the lady I pulled over about twenty years ago was less suspicious, what with the petrol leaking from her car as she was driving along and the cigarette she was lighting up. :eek:

15

Well, you have to assess the situation. If somebody pulls up and warns you that you’re leaking gas and then goes along their way, that’s one thing. It’s another entirely if after warning you they seem to be hanging back waiting for you to pull over in front of them like these guys were doing, and to be doing it at one o’clock in the morning on a deserted roadway to boot. Plus their premise was unbeliveable. Nothing will be causing sparks like that without making considerable noise, plus they were vague about where the sparks were coming from.

But not everybody knows what’s plausible and what isn’t when someone tells them they have an emergency with their car, and I still don’t think it’s wise to pull over and get out of your car on somebody else’s say so unless you’re already in a safe spot - and especially not if they seem to be hanging back or driving slowly ahead and appear to be waiting for you to pull over.

And besides, the woman you warned still wouldn’t have had to pull over and get out of her car. Simply not smoking until she got to a safe place should have done the trick.

16

You call 'em as you see 'em. Personally, I think the safest thing to do with a car that’s visibly leaking gas - a pint every few seconds, minimum - is get the fuck out of it. At that time and place, it was a well-travelled public highway with onlookers passing every few seconds, for what that’s worth.

17

Malacandra, even with that much fuel leaking out the car would not blow up like you see in the movies. First of all, if she had ignored you, she would probably run out of gas and coast away from the fuel before coming to a stop. Second, she was driving away from the fuel she was dropping. Even if she had lit a trail of fire by throwing the cigarette butt out the window, she would have been able to come to a stop and exit the car safely before it would go up in flames.

You were good to go out of your way to get her attention and let her know what was happening. But unfortunately, as women, we are aware that there are guys out there who are willing to go out of their way to do us women some serious damage. As another female, I think SA make the right move. After all, she did check for the damage the guys were claiming she had.

18

Just a quick note, carnut, to say that I’m a guy. :slight_smile: Other than that, you are absolutely correct. People tend to freak out over the idea that their car is leaking gas. But the truth is that most gas leaks aren’t all that dangerous.

But the main point of my original post was just to remind people not to allow anyone to persuade them to pull over and get out of their cars in isolated areas where they would be vulnerable. Miscreants use all sorts of ruses to get people out of their cars, including sometimes running into them from the rear, to get them out of their cars whereupon they become easy victims.

The main point, again, is just for everyone to make sure they don’t allow anyone to persuade them to stop and get out of their cars in isolated areas or any other areas where they could be vulnerable.

19

TT

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IIRC, the recommended strategy in this situation is to drive to the nearest police station and see if the other car is still so eager to help.