Question

If someone drives over to the wrong side of the road and hits your vehicle head on, is it right to beat the s**t out of them?

It just happened to me about 2 hrs ago, and I'm still a bit shaken. I
didn't beat them, and up I'm not the type that does. I'm not looking
for sympathy, I actually have a serious ethical question.

Ethically? Yes.
Morally? Of course.
Legally? Sadly no.

However! You can always argue that they could have very well killed you.

I was in a situation like this with a friend of mine, thankfully he was quick so it wasn't a head on collision (especially because the oncomming vehicle was a Ford pick-up and we were in a 2000 civic)

I've heard driving is crazy in India. Is it like most middle eastern countries? The only utility on your vehicle you use for signaling other drivers is the horn?

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I try to stay away from ethics. Legality is what matters in practise, and unfortunately, it probably would have been illegal (but defensible) to beat him up. If youre able to beat him up, youre probably able to get some sort of details about who he is (numberplates) and sic the police on him.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

i'd say it all depends on why he was on the wrong side of the road. if he'd just been stung on the face by a large wasp or something, and had lost control for a second, then i'd say it was a lucky escape all round and let it go. however, if he was drunk, or in some way wrecklesly responsible, then i'd say he deserves a beating.

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i eat paint

Crono:

The traffic is not too bad in bangalore generally, but it's getting
worse. There are 2,000,000+ vehicles on roads designed to handle about
500,000, so stuff has to go wrong. The rest of the country, it's
horrible. No laws, no enforcement .

Fishy:

There was no reason for him to be on the wrong side of the road. He
said he was sauntering over to park his vehicle on the other side of
the road, but when I confronted him to take him to the police he just
ran away. I wasn't in any shape to chase down people on the road.

Wil5on:

I have his numberplates, so hopefully the cops do their job.

Freeman:

What?

You have my sympathies. You will more than likely not come out well no matter how the situation is eventually handled. Legally, or morally.

Driving today, at least in the states has become a "Cover your own ass" mindset. As long as you have someone else to blame for something, you can justify almost any incident/situation.

Keep us posted. I am curious to see how other countries handle these type of situations.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

i've never been comfortable throwing the first punch, but i've given some drivers some serious abuse, to try and draw a response that would give me an excuse to administer a good beating. i cycled to work through Glasgow city center for over ten years, and had nutters almost kill me on a few occasions.

on the one occasion that i really really wanted to throw a punch, a red transit van had come speeding around the corner(on my side), slammed the brakes on just after i had, and skidded right into me. by the time it hit me, i had already stopped, but i was still up on the bike. i just had time to turn the handlebars, so my legs wouldn't snag on them, when the bike shot out from under me. i got flipped into the air a little, rolled on my back across his windscreen, and landed on my feet right at his door, facing him. his window was down just enough that a really well thrown punch would have got him, and i was so so tempted to try. but if i missed, then he would have had my arm in his cab, and, going by the size of the guy, would probably have ripped it off. i did grab his keys out of the ignition and phoned the police. this got him upset, as did my [obviously bogus] claims to having damaged my knee, but i still couldn't draw a fight out of him. replying to his every comment with "up your arse, mate" was starting to have an effect, but the police arrived, so it was all in vain.

i think in this country, they treat being angered by someone putting your life at risk, or 'road rage' as it's become known, as a hanging offense. you're not allowed to be upset in any way at how other people drive, or they take you away and 'do things' to you. this is balanced by being allowed to express other types of rage by using a car to kill and maim your enemy, and say it was a wee accident.

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i eat paint

On my drive home yesterday I heard on the FM radio that two cars were involved in a fatality incident in Springfield Missouri. The surviving driver will be charged but it was unknown at that time for what exactly. The incident involved road rage and the drivers all being adult should have known better. The crash was in excess of 80 MPH and the dead driver was 70 years old. I didn't catch the age of the survivor.

I suggest punching over car crashing. The survival chances increase dramatically. Satisfaction would also be a plus.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

Satisfaction would also be a plus.

Agreed. 6+ years of martial arts and I still didn't do anything (or
maybe that's why?). I should've just kicked him in the balls. It
wouldn't have fixed my motorbike, but it would've made me feel a whole
lot better.

Anyway, just got back from the doctor. I seem to be fine (nothing more
abnormal than usual). The only problem is that I still haven't filed an
official complaint, owing to the local outpost being closed (or
something). First thing tomorrow morning...

fraggard said:
Agreed. 6+ years of martial arts and I still didn't do anything (or maybe that's why?). I should've just kicked him in the balls. It wouldn't have fixed my motorbike, but it would've made me feel a whole lot better.

Anyway, just got back from the doctor. I seem to be fine (nothing more abnormal than usual). The only problem is that I still haven't filed an official complaint, owing to the local outpost being closed (or something). First thing tomorrow morning...

Take NOTHING for granted. Do not assume that the police have your best interest at heart. If asked whether you have any questions, be open. The worse thing they can tell you is that they do not have that information ATM.

Police work crashes daily. Thy get tired of them and subsequently allow their personally feeling to interfere with the job at hand. They might consider you nothing more than an inconvenience and their time would be better spent elsewhere.

Ask anything YOU feel is relevant to the situation. They will inform you if its within your rights to know the answer without resorting to an attorney.

As I said, kep us posted. I am curious.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I don't know any martial art, but I used to have a pretty bad temper.

I've been in lots of fights when I was younger. This happened especially when I was in grade school. I am very short and small (even among my Asian peers), so I naturally was the target of bullying.

However, I never settle for being the target, as I always fought back. It didn't matter how big they were, I always punched back when they picked on me. I sure am going to teach my son/daughter to do the same. Being passive just encourages other to pick on you as well.

I didn't win all the fights, but whoever picked on me stopped picking on me again after I stood up for myself.

Now, thirty-pounds of muscle and fifteen years of weight-lifting later, no one wants to pick a fight with me anymore.

P.S. I actually haven't been lifting for the past three weeks. I injured my right shoulder after I benched too heavy for too many consecutive days. I am frustrated by the injury and I am getting impatient. But I should heed my own advice to my patients in not returning to exercise too soon.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

While fitness always seems to disappear too quickly, you've undoubtedly
built a very strong base so I'm sure the rest won't be too
detrimental. It won't be like starting from square 1 if that's
what you're fearing.

Whenever I try to bench too much I end up hurting my neck or back from
the strain. Last time it happened I was maxing 165... only
weighing 145. That knocks me out for a couple weeks.
Luckily, swimming is low impact and that's what's keeping me busy right
now.

I feel that my body is not as young as it used to be. I have to be extra careful now. After all, I am over the hill already (after thirty, everything goes downhill).

I used to be able to dish out all sorts of abuse to my body (like running fifteen miles after not running for months). It always bounced back fairly quickly. Not anymore.

I am an old folgey now. Thanks, Addicted. I am sure I'll recover eventually, and I know I won't be starting from square one. It's frustrating nevertheless. I am sure you can relate to the feeling, being an athelete yourself.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Fraggard-

Beating people up is bad. The civilized thing is to get money out of him.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Yeah, make him broke and shatter his emotions.

It's frustrating nevertheless. I am sure you can relate to the feeling, being an athelete yourself.

Definitely. The first weeks back (when you're no longer in shape) are the hardest.

The problem with being in America is that even the "winner" of the legalities still loses a s**t ton of money