Would someone just randomly follow your vehicle?...longish, just have question

[ilbob]

A guy I knew who was some kind of investigator for the army told me that as part of their training they would be told to follow random cars around. Don't know how true it is.

I tried it once. It is a lot harder than you might think to follow someone and not be real obvious about it.

 

[Mike1234567]

Maybe you flashed too much cash when you bought the milk... or maybe they just really like milk.

 

[Jim K]

To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence.

Jim

 

[armedandsafe]

When I was a school bus driver I noticed a car following me after a pickup stop. I did the left-hand block loop immediately followed by a right-hand block loop. By this time, I had the Sheriff's office on the line and continued slowly on the "long route" toward my next stop. The Deputy that showed up stopped my tail and I then lost sight of them.

When I finished my route, I found a note in my box to report to the Assistant Manager. He praised me for being alert and taking action on the tail. Then, he chewed me out because he had to sit talking to a Sheriff's Deputy for 15 minutes.

Pops

 

[yamahawarrior89]

Back in high school

A buddy and I stopped at my girlfriends house for dinner. After we left, we noticed someone was following us through the subdivision. It is a huge subdivision and I made a wrong turn into a cul-de-sac. This whole time we were driving through this subdivision we were talking about stopping and confronting (young and feeling invincible) or trying to hot rod it out of there and "lose them".

Well after the wrong turn they pulled up sideways to block me in. They got out of the car and quickly reviled they were the sheriff's department and took our ID's. Turns out there was some vandalism in the subdivision and they were undercover and looking for the perps. Glad it went the way it did and it was real eye opening.

Good job keeping an eye on your surroundings because you might not know what is going to happen until it is happening. Avoidance is best.

 

[cheesebigot]

I followed someone home once after they dropped a $100 bill in the parking lot of the grocery store. She didn't notice until she got out and I scared her half to death, but she was really grateful that I had.

Not everyone is out to cause harm, but it's best to keep your eyes open.

 

[9MMare]

Standard practice to see if your being followed is to make 3 right turns,that is a circle and NO ONE would do that for any reason but to stay behind you.

This is a bodyguard/courier routine to avoid being followed.

Also used by LEO's as I did when so employed.

I was followed home from the station and that is how I decided if there was a 'addressable problem',yes there was and I took appropriate action.

This seems to be common advice on this. That's why I added the information that this is a rural area...we dont have 'blocks to drive around.'

That is why I *do* have a plan that takes me into a well-populated development near my house with cul-de-sacs....sorry, no 'blocks.'

And lots of people do drive up into that development, I imagine even more on a holiday.

I didnt really take it seriously until they followed me into the cul-de-sac with only 2 houses on it. And they still could have been going there...I just didnt stick around to find out

Certainly no need to call 911...what would I have said? I drove away without incident.

Appreciating the comments very much.

 

[9MMare]

I followed someone home once after they dropped a $100 bill in the parking lot of the grocery store. She didn't notice until she got out and I scared her half to death, but she was really grateful that I had.

Ohhh noooooo!!!!!

Dang, that was some expensive milk.

 

[whanson_wi]

A guy followed my wife from the highway up a gravel road to our house. Reason? The local highways were fubar (flooding), the detour was only slightly longer than a trip to China, and he knew that if he could just find a local, they could get him where he needed to go. It was a little alarming at first; it probably never occured to him that it looked suspicious.

 

[Bobson]

Read the OP, didn't read through the whole thread.

Way to play it safe and not drive home. Bad move driving into a cul-de-sac. Don't drive anywhere that forces you to make a u-turn to get away from the other vehicle.

When you were describing the situation, I got a mental picture of my parent's town. My eyes bugged out a bit when I checked your location and saw that you live outside Seattle. My parents live in Arlington, WA. Stay safe up there.

 

[ChaoSS]

This seems to be common advice on this. That's why I added the information that this is a rural area...we dont have 'blocks to drive around.'

That is why I *do* have a plan that takes me into a well-populated development near my house with cul-de-sacs....sorry, no 'blocks.'

And lots of people do drive up into that development, I imagine even more on a holiday.

I didnt really take it seriously until they followed me into the cul-de-sac with only 2 houses on it. And they still could have been going there...I just didnt stick around to find out

Certainly no need to call 911...what would I have said? I drove away without incident.

Appreciating the comments very much.

Rural area with no blocks is easy. Just put on the 4 ways and pull of the road. Kind of hard to keep following someone who does that without looking very suspicious.

 

[conw]

Knockout game isn't new and neither is the possibility of someone (stranger or not) targeting you for some reason unknown to us and you.

That said you did the right thing by pulling a countersurveillance maneuver. Another way to do this, that I do as SOON as I get that gut feeling, is simply to take 3-4 left turns (right turns could work too) in a row that are not part of your route. Of course this just lands you back on your route but is a big giveaway if someone's following you.

It's also a somewhat safer way to lose them than a cul de sac in an isolated area.

Traffic circles (where available) work very well too. Just make a full loop and continue on your route, or if the car continues to follow you, you can go around twice to make it even more apparent.

I would write down time, place where you first noticed them, where you were coming from, a description of the vehicle and driver, and the location where they finally stopped following you. Share it with anyone who lives with you. That's about all you can do.

If you don't have anyone with a grudge, and aren't a bank manager or something, it was probably random. Just be vigilant since you can't know.

Per Occam's Razor, the overwhelming likelihood is that they weren't following you. If you were traveling from a commonly trafficked area in a populated region to a less trafficked area, anyone who had a similar destination would be fairly likely to take the same route. That's really not too surprising. It surely happens more often than random or specific targeted following/surveillance of individuals for any reason.

The reason I choose to execute the CS maneuver early in the route (as early as possible) is because you have much better control over where it happens if you do it early, and because it rules out the "same destination" issue and gives you the ability to respond appropriately.

 

[conw]

Rural area with no blocks is easy. Just put on the 4 ways and pull of the road. Kind of hard to keep following someone who does that without looking very suspicious.

I wouldn't recommend that. It's not as safe or as definitive as the CS maneuver I outlined.

Some people are helpful and want to ask you what is wrong if you pull over and use hazard lights.

Also, stopping the vehicle opens you up to decisive action from a potential aggressor at no gain in this situation.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Sometimes kids in a car just decide to follow some random stranger just to jerk their chain

 

[ChaoSS]

I wouldn't recommend that. It's not as safe or as definitive as the CS maneuver I outlined.

Some people are helpful and want to ask you what is wrong if you pull over and use hazard lights.

Also, stopping the vehicle opens you up to decisive action from a potential aggressor at no gain in this situation.

If someone pulls over behind you at that point, you can simply start rolling forward. Make it clear to any "Good Samaritan that you do not want or need their help. I certainly wouldn't let anyone get close to my car in that sort of situation.

 

[stressed]

Same thing I posted in other thread, be a hard target.

 

[conw]

If someone pulls over behind you at that point, you can simply start rolling forward. Make it clear to any "Good Samaritan that you do not want or need their help. I certainly wouldn't let anyone get close to my car in that sort of situation.

Okay, but what if they hit your car (rear end collision or side-swipe)? A vehicle is a weapon.

Or let's say they do stop, or pull off behind you. You haven't really gained definitive intelligence on their intent. So what's the next move?

I'm not trying to debate really, just show why I don't think that's a good procedure in this case.

 

[ChaoSS]

Okay, but what if they hit your car (rear end collision or side-swipe)? A vehicle is a weapon.

They can do so at speed just as easily.

Or let's say they do stop, or pull off behind you. You haven't really gained definitive intelligence on their intent. So what's the next move?

I'm not trying to debate really, just show why I don't think that's a good procedure in this case.

If they pull over behind you, you slowly pull forward. See what they do. Wait a few minutes. Leave. If they are still obvious enough to follow you, then you have a problem.


Not saying this is the best option, all the time. Just, another option for when others don't really work given where you are. Such as out in the middle of nowhere, where you don't know enough about your surroundings to know where you can do a circle, or whatever. Just an option.

If someone pulls over behind me, follows me as I roll forward at a few mph, and takes off when I do, especially if they do it more than once, I know every bit as much as if they followed me in a circle.

 

[TRX]

I've had it happen to me. Most of them gave up after a while. A couple, I managed to lose.

There are a lot of weird people out there, and many of them have cars. And internet connections, for that matter...

 

[Torian]

Very oddly tonite, I may have been followed home from Thanksgiving dinner at friends. I wasnt followed from their rural home but I stopped in a small town at 7-11 to pick up milk before going home. I was alone.

I dont think I was followed from there but hard to say driving the rest of the way thru the small town and then onto a 2 lane highway. 5 minutes later I turned off onto another rural road. Shortly after that I noticed a car behind me. Not unusual.

However it was still behind me 4 miles later. I turned up my road and it did too. At that point I did what I normally do if there is any inkling I may have been followed....I turned off onto another road that goes thru a fancy development (in the middle of nowhere really). And then I turned into a cul-de-sac off that road that only has 2 houses on it.

Car was still behind me. I didnt stop of course and it didnt pull into a driveway but *I think* pulled over to the side of the road....hard to tell in the dark. It didnt follow me out of the cul-de-sac. It could have been someone actually visiting one of the 2 houses.

Would someone just randomly target a vehicle and follow it? For what purpose? It's not a fancy car, I dont think they could even tell who was in the car except it was just one person....they wouldnt know where I was going...home, a Thanksgiving get-together, anywhere.

But unless it was a big coincidence, it seems they were following me. I just cant figure out why?

I've been followed home once. Apparently due to cutting some guy off in a parking lot 5 miles away (according to him).

Great demonstration of good situational awareness. A little paranoia can be a good thing sometimes.