Some Advice For Offensive Driving

Most of you have probably heard of the incident involving Alexian Lien, who fled from a gang of bikers (not your typical motorcycle gang like the Hell's Angels, but an urban group) who had surrounded his car. The gang managed to get Lien to stop his Range Rover, dragged him out, and beat him.

Texas Armoring Corporation gives some advice to their customers on what to do under similar circumstances. While some of their advice is only applicable to someone driving an armored vehicle (i.e., their customers), some is of general application:

It’s relevant to note that the man driving the Range Rover was traveling with his wife and small child in the vehicle and likely feared for his life and those of his loved ones while being chased by this pack of motorcyclists.  The video begins with a group of bikers surrounding the Range Rover, slowing down in front of it to create a roadblock, and trying to force the vehicle to stop.  One of the bikers appears to taunt the driver and intentionally slows down, forcing a small collision to occur.  Normally, the right the thing to do in the event of a collision is to get out and exchange insurance information—obviously, that’s not a wise decision when you’re surrounded by a gang of angry bikers who apparently hold some ill will against you. 

The first mistake we notice in the video is that the man driving the Range Rover (Alexian Lien) allows a forced stop by the gang group of bikers.  One of the initial concepts that we teach our clients is to NEVER STOP the vehicle and to always keep moving in the event of an attack. 

Fortunately (for Mr. Lien), after one of the motorcyclists tries to open the door to his vehicle, he steps on the gas and temporarily escapes.  Unfortunately (for the bikers), the Range Rover made short work of the motley crew and plowed through what appears to be a couple of bikes and one of the riders. 

While we don’t know what was happening inside the vehicle after the Range Rover escaped the initial confrontation, our recommended course of action would have been to keep driving on the freeway as long as possible while calling the police and allowing them time to respond and defuse the situation.  We don’t know if the driver did that or not, but avoiding a high-speed conflict is always preferable to a tactical Hollywood car chase. While waiting for the police is great, in a dangerous scenario where you’re being chased by bikers, sometimes that isn’t an option. 

For our clients, one of the second concepts we teach is to USE YOUR VEHICLE TO YOUR TACTICAL ADVANTAGE—employ evasive driving techniques, ram potential attackers off the road, go off-road if possible where your pursuers can’t follow, ...

 They go on to suggest that you always be armed, although recognizing that was not an option for Mr. Lien, who was in New York City.

(H/t The Truth About Guns)