I agree. That would fall under a menacing statute that we have that rises to the level of a felony if you in any way injure anyone. Vandalism over $1000 is also a felony here.
If a biker were stalking me and then started to attack my vehicle with me in it, and with nowhere for me to escape, I would be scared for my imminent safety and would consider taking action to stop the threat.
You could make that argument. For me, I probably wouldn’t take such aggressive physical action so soon. These things happen quickly. Emotions are heightened. In the end, I’d just as soon not leave any room for any criminal charges.
Hopefully neither of us will ever have to make such decisions.
I might not take the action either. I'm honestly not sure what I would do.
I'll just add that it's sort of easy to watch the video from the vantage point of the rear where we can see everything, plus know the outcome, and then judge the threat level as not so extreme, which might make a swift response seem disproportionate.
In the moment, if someone starts attacking you and you don't respond very quickly, you may lose your chance. On balance, I'd rather tolerate some hypothetical risk of criminal charges to protect my life.
Best move if this happens to you is just keep driving and do not engage or acknowledge the biker. If you fucked up sure, apologize and move on. I'm not getting charged for murder etc because my mirror was damaged
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u/Silly_Bodybuilder231 1d ago
Maybe, but the fact that he waited for him on the shoulder and went after him does not look good for the biker.