road rage incident, what's the charge?

[TroyF]

Any cops here?

So I'm leaving the parking lot of a mall with my wife, in a right hand turn lane. A green truck turning left comes at me head on. My first thought is "Oh crap, I'm in a one way turn lane by mistake" Nope. I'm fine. My second thought is "Truck made a mistake, no big deal, I'll just start backing up"

As I start to back up the truck starts gunning the engine and lurching toward me, getting within a hair of my hood multiple times. When I'm back enough so it can get through, the truck driver (a woman FWIW) slams on the horn, flips me off and guns by me.

While I'm trying to calm down my wife I see the truck pull into a parking spot and a cop car swoops in right behind the truck, blocking it in the space.

As I'm leaving I see the cop heading toward the truck. the cop came from the other side of the parking lot, so I don't think it was chasing the truck, it stopped it because it saw what went on .


So what type of ticket would the truck have gotten? Aggressive driving? Strangest incident I've been involved with in a long, long time.

[Julio Riddols]

I'm guessing reckless driving or vehicular intimidation?

[NobodyHere]

Driving while female?

[INDalltheway]

Holy cow that had the be the most fulfilling thing seeing her get reprimanded so quickly. That is instant karma that r/JusticePorn (http://www.reddit.com/r/JusticePorn/) would be proud of.

[Lathum]

You can probably find out. It is likely public record. I would try calling the police, tel them you were the victim and that you are willing to help in any way, and ask what the charge was.

One other thing, since it was a parking lot, and possibly private property, she my not have been cited at all. Traffic laws are different in parking lots then on a city street.

[jeff061]

I would guess she just got a talking to.

[flere-imsaho]

I would guess either reckless driving or, based on your description, going the wrong way on a one-way marked lane?

I'd love to believe (and it might actually be so) that this is just a case of a cop seeing reckless and aggressive driving and calling someone on it. We need more of that, tbh.

[Coffee Warlord]

I would guess she just got a talking to.

Prolly depends how big of an ass she was to the cops.

[Lathum]

I would guess either reckless driving or, based on your description, going the wrong way on a one-way marked lane?


Laws vary by state, but this is an example of if it happened in a private parking lot the cops couldn't give a ticket. Stop signs are another example of that.

Reckless driving and such may be different as that could be a felony.

[Barkeep49]

It actually can be a legal stop sign on private property if it's been passed by official ordinance, at least in Illinois.

[illinifan999]

In Virginia the only traffic laws that can be enforced on private property are reckless driving and DUI. I imagine it would be the same in most states.

[Shepp]

Like others have already mentioned, it really depends on the state you live. Here in GA, state traffic laws generally do not apply to private property. Most municipalities have ordinances that can be used in situations like this. I work in DeKalb County and we have "Reckless Driving in a Parking Lot" and "Creating a Hazardous and Offensive Condition" charges that could have been made in the situation you just described.

[molson]

I guess some states make a strict public/private distinction, but my state and many others make a distinction between: (1) public property/private property open to the public v. (2) truly private property.

Store parking lots, commercial parking lots, apartment complex parking lots - they're "private property", but the public is invited to use them for specific purposes - to go to a business, visit a friend at an apartment, etc. So in my state (and I know in many others), that's "private property open to the public", and traffic laws apply. You're only free to drive drunk or recklessly on truly private property that the public may not access - like your single-home driveway, or on your ranch.

And obviously, it can be really dangerous to drive drunk or recklessly in a place like an apartment complex parking lot or a commercial parking garage. This has come up a lot and the all of the state legislatures that I've aware of have accounted for this in their statutes in some way. Every so often a defendant comes around and thinks he's the first one to discover this amazing loophole that allows him to drive drunk or recklessly around parking lots, but they always lose, at least in my state.

[albionmoonlight]

Officer may have wanted to check if driver was drunk or otherwise on something. Considering the driver's behavior, I think that there is probable cause to stop her to investigate that.

And, once they have the vehicle stopped, who knows what the officer will find.

[albionmoonlight]

Dola:

It amazes me how many people will have evidence of serious wrongdoing just sitting in plain view in their cars (i.e. distribution levels of drugs and/or illegal guns) who then break obvious traffic rules (expired plates, running a stop sign, etc.).

Most drug busts are the result of targeted police investigation. But more than you think start with a traffic officer just trying to meet his quota for the month who is as surprised as anyone to see all of the drugs hastily shoved under the passenger seat when he walks up.

[saldana]

the private property/public property discussion as it pertains to parking lots usually applies to accidents or minor moving violations (like rolling the stop signs in front of Kohls), but based on your description, reckless endangerment could have been charged, which if it happens in view of the police, doesnt have any restrictions on where it occurs.

[Subby]

I'm curious why you didn't stick around to give a statement to the police.

[jeff061]

If there's no damage done nothing good ever came out of talking to police.

[EagleFan]

That had to bring a bit of a smile to your face.

[TroyF]

It was great seeing the cop swoop in.

I thought about staying and talking to the cop, but I really didn't see what good could become of it. The psycho lady probably wasn't paying that much attention to me or my car, why give her a chance to get a good view. This is CA, odds are she would never see me or my wife again, but why screw around with it? I know she got stopped. Didn't see the need to do anything else.

The whole thing was really strange. I can't imagine what would possess someone to act like that. I guess I don't get the private/public part here. Are you saying there are parts of the land where you can go 75 in a mall parking lot without getting in trouble? I can see if for instances of illegal u turn or turning in wrong lane or something like that, but reckless and violent behavior can't be tolerated and I can't believe a cop would have their hands tied in those situations.

[albionmoonlight]

I guess I don't get the private/public part here. Are you saying there are parts of the land where you can go 75 in a mall parking lot without getting in trouble? I can see if for instances of illegal u turn or turning in wrong lane or something like that, but reckless and violent behavior can't be tolerated and I can't believe a cop would have their hands tied in those situations.

There are traffic-specific laws that tend to only apply on public roads. So, if I am operating a car with expired tags on a public road, that's in violation of that law. But if I am just sitting in my driveway with it, then I am not violating that traffic law. Another example might be failure to use a turn signal. If I do that on a public road, that's a violation. If I do it in an empty parking lot, maybe not.

You are, however, correct that there are lots of laws that are not traffic-specific. Things like reckless endangerment and the like.