There’s a lot to address regarding this road rage incident between a man and his wife and another motorist. Ultimately, it seems the victim was justified in drawing his gun, but a lot could have been done to potentially diffuse this situation.
I’ll start by stating something we are constantly preaching here at USA Carry. You need to keep your ego and anger in check, especially when driving. And especially when carrying a gun! I don’t know what it is, but something about driving turns some people into loose cannons. We report on road rage incidents all the time.
This past Tuesday afternoon, a Florida man and his wife were driving on their motorcycle. Another man was driving a truck. There are conflicting reports on who cut who off. Some state that the motorcyclist cut the truck off, and some state that the truck cut the motorcyclist off. Regardless, both of them came to a stop at some point, and this is where this turned into a road rage incident.
The video footage recorded by the victim’s wife picks up when the driver of the truck was already holding a knife. It is reported that when both men came to a stop, the suspect got out of his truck and drew a knife. The man on the motorcycle put on a pair of brass knuckles to defend himself.
NOTE: Brass knuckles are legal in Florida, but the owner must have a concealed weapons permit to carry them.
The rest of the incident can be seen in the video below:
My initial thoughts when watching this video were, why didn’t the husband and wife get back on their motorcycle and leave. The suspect can be heard telling them to do so. The suspect was holding a knife and standing in a combative stance. He’s obviously seeing red, and I doubt reasoning with the man would have done any good. Provoking him more obviously did no good either. We talk a lot about de-escalation here, which should have happened here. “Hey buddy, I’m sorry I cut you off. I didn’t see you. etc. etc.” And then get on the motorcycle and drive off.
But instead, the two men have a standoff in the street, both puffing their chests out at each other—basically a battle of egos. The victim’s wife’s tone also didn’t help the situation.
The victim then stands his ground and, at some point, starts taking small steps toward the man with the knife. Also, not the best idea. The suspect swung the knife at the victim, which seemed to come very close to slashing him. Never get this close to someone with a knife. You should be making as much distance as possible, for example, getting on your motorcycle and leaving.
That’s when the victim drew his concealed carry gun and aimed it at the suspect. But that didn’t diffuse the situation either. The group kept arguing until the police arrived. Both men were detained, and the suspect with the knife was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. The victim had a concealed weapons permit and was not charged.
As I mentioned at the start, the victim seems to have been justified in drawing his gun in self-defense. But we can do better than this. Do your best not to get yourself in a situation like this. Swallow your pride if you have to. It just isn’t worth it. What would have happened had the suspect actually slashed the victim’s throat? Would all of this peacocking have been worth it? The answer to that question is no.
Read the original story: Florida Man Draws On Man w/ Knife During Road Rage Incident Caught on Video
