"Get In The Car"
By Christopher Caile
You can be very vulnerable when approaching your parked vehicle or waiting
in your stopped vehicle. Here are 10 basic rules of car self-defense everyone
should know.
Forcing you into a car, or attacking you once inside, are preferred methods
used by child abductors, molesters, and rapists. So be careful when in
a garage, parking lot or deserted area when going to your car –
especially when alone.
Of course, you are always safer if you are accompanied by another person,
so ask for an escort if your car in an isolated area. It is also safer
if you are in a busy, well lit area, during the day, or in an area monitored
physically be security personnel or cameras. Remember, predators don’t
want extra company. It makes things more difficult and increases chances
of being identified or detained. But if you are alone, and the environment
less than ideal, here are a few things you can do to avoid problems or
deal with them if they appear.
1-Even if the predator has a gun and tells you to get
into a car, van or truck, don’t acquiesce. Instead, run. I know
it’s scary, but the odds are with you. You are much more likely,
I mean 90% more likely, to get hurt or killed if you do follow orders.
If you run, the likelihood is that the abductor will just “get out
of there, fast” instead of shooting, which will draw attention,
identify his vehicle and maybe draw assistance. Even if a shot is fired,
the chances of getting critically hurt are one in ten – good odds
and a lot better than if you got in the vehicle.
2-When approaching or getting into your car, look out
for possible predators. Watch for someone lingering behind you or near
your car. Watch for a passenger sitting in a vehicle parked next to your
driver’s side car door. The space between parked cars is narrow
and often obscured from view of others – a perfect place for a stranger
to suddenly take control. And if there is a van parked next to you, a
door can be quickly opened to pull you in. If you find such a vehicle
parked next to your driver’s side, enter your car from the passenger’s
side. You may feel foolish doing this, but it could save your life.
3-Before getting into your car, check the back seat,
especially the floor. If it is dark an attacker can easily hide there
and attack or kill you once you have gotten inside your vehicle.
4-Once in the car, lock the doors. Too often people
just sit for a while in their car after entering, arranging articles,
eating or making cell phone calls. Without locked doors, you invite an
attack.
5-If you are approaching your vehicle be especially
sensitive to others who might need your help. This sounds counter-intuitive,
but killers, adductors and rapists often use this technique. Ted Bundy,
the infamous serial killer, walked with a cane, limped and asked for help
into his vehicle (where he abducted his victims). He seemed harmless.
He was also good looking, well dressed and well spoken – someone
who certainly didn’t look dangerous. He used this guise to gain
sympathy of unsuspecting women – whose assistance made them vulnerable.
6-If you are in your car, in a parking lot, at a gas
station, or just waiting for someone, keep your doors locked and windows
up. Be careful of anyone approaching your car and trying to talk to you.
If you roll down your window beyond a crack, you could put yourself in
danger. A recent article (Your
$5 Ma’am: An Approach By A Serial Killer) on FightingArts.com
referred to a Lafayette, LA serial killer. It recounted a frightening
incident where a women in her car, late at night, was approached at a
gas station by a clean-shaven person who knocked on her window (after
she had bought a few items inside) holding up a five-dollar bill
to the window. He said, "You dropped this." Most people would
think, “Oh, that is so nice of a person not to keep my money and
to return it to me.” Luckily, however, the woman was suspicious
and didn't open the window. The man then began pounding on the window
and door as he shouted, insisting that she open the door and that she
had dropped the bill. At this point she just drove away, a move that probably
saved her life. Later, city officials said the perpetrator might have
been the serial rapist loose in their city.
7-If you find yourself in a car with a stranger who
threatens you or has a gun, don’t just drive off or follow his orders.
First put on your seat belt if you can. Then, as you start to move forward,
suddenly gun the engine and aim for something – a car, a building,
a light pole, etc. Crash into it. You might get a little injured, but
so will the attacker, especially if he is in the back seat, or next to
you without a seat belt. Then open your door and get out of there and
run if possible. This is a lot better than someone finding your mutilated
body in a trash barrel or along side the road.
8-If you are forced into the trunk of a car, try to
kick out a tail light of the car. If you can, push your hand out the hole
and start waving. If you carry small portable flashlight, it can be held
in your hand to gain attention. If there is a vehicle behind the car,
you will be noticed. Punching out the taillight, however, can be difficult.
You can try kicking one out. If that fails look for any hard, long object
in the trunk that you can use as a tool. Often the trunk will contain
a jack or other tools used to change tires. These can be used. There is
also another possible alternative. If the attack was sudden, you might
still be in possession of a cell phone. Call 911.
9-If you are heading to a parking garage in the basement,
or moving between levels of a garage, use the elevator rather than the
stairs, which are often deserted. And when using the elevator, be careful
entering when there is another lone male there.
10-If you are stopped on the street and someone points
a gun in your face through your car window and demands your car keys to
car-jack your car – get out of the car and give them your key. Your
life isn’t worth the risk of arguing with a gun. Don’t argue,
and don’t fight back. You might feel that this makes it too easy
for the perpetrator, but remember that the carjacker is nervous and scared
too, which clouds thinking and causes quick anger and an emotional reaction
-- pulling the trigger.
About the Author:
Christopher Caile is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of FightingArts.com.
He has been a student of the martial arts for over 43 years. He first
started in judo. Then he added karate as a student of Phil Koeppel in
1959. Caile introduced karate to Finland in 1960 and then hitch-hiked
eastward. In Japan (1961) he studied under Mas Oyama and later in the
US became a Kyokushinkai Branch Chief. In 1976 he followed Kaicho Tadashi
Nakamura when he formed Seido karate and is now a 6th degree black belt
in that organization's honbu dojo. Other experience includes aikido, diato-ryu
aikijujutsu, kenjutsu, kobudo, Shinto Muso-ryu jodo, kobudo, boxing and
several Chinese fighting arts including Praying mantis, Pak Mei (White
Eyebrow) and shuai chiao. He is also a student of Zen. A long-term student
of one branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qigong, he is a personal
disciple of the qi gong master and teacher of acupuncture Dr. Zaiwen Shen
(M.D., Ph.D.) and is Vice-President of the DS International Chi Medicine
Association. He holds an M.A. in International Relations from American
University in Washington D.C. and has traveled extensively through South
and Southeast Asia. He frequently returns to Japan and Okinawa to continue
his studies in the martial arts, their history and tradition. In his professional
life he has been a businessman, newspaper journalist, inventor and entrepreneur.
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