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A long time ago when I lived in RI I was driving home on a snowy night. I happened to be driving a Firebird, which is not exactly a good performer in the snow.

At one point, I was on a side road that sloped upwards where it met a main road. There was very little other traffic and very few people out and about. The road was covered with hard packed snow. Almost immediately after I stopped at the stop sign I was bumped gently from behind by another car.

I looked in my rear view mirror and saw 2 guys in the other car. At this point my mind was racing, as I knew "bumping" was a common carjacking technique. With the road surface as slippery as it was, I knew that I couldn't make any kind of quick getaway. In fact, I probably couldn't get above walking speed until I got on to the main road, which was level.

I concluded that I was a sitting duck in the car, and decided to get out. I figured that if I was out of the car, I could fight, run away, or do whatever was needed.

So I got out, loosened my coat, and put my hand under my sweater where it rested on the grips of my SP101 while still technically "concealed". Then I cautiously walked towards the other car where the two guys were still inside. (This is what you would "normally" do when bumped, right?) I began to relax a bit at this point. The driver, who appeared to have possibly been drinking said something like, "I don't think there's any damage, man." I can't swear to it, but the guy's eyes might have gotten real big as he looked me over and maybe noticed where my right hand was.

Firebirds of this vintage had a big rubber/plastic rear bumper. I looked it over and quickly agreed. "Looks OK.", I said.

Then I got back into my car and we both drove away.

My point is that in this circumstance, I definitely felt trapped in the car and decided my prospects were better on foot. I think that even if things had turned bad, I would have been better off out of the car.

Other situations might require a different response.

mcub wrote:

Penn wrote:You're right - five mph under probably isn't too slow. But it is really annoying. If you're looking for an address, pull over and let some cars pass. Have some common courtesy.

Hu???
This is Texas, don't we consider anything less than 10 over the sign as slow??

No kidding!