QOTD: Would You Fight a Carjacker for Your Car?
In a classic case of fight-or-flight response, a Milwaukee woman named Melissa Smith has just filled up her Subaru Outback and realizes there’s a man on the driver’s side about to steal her off-roading vehicle. Rather than let the thief drive off with her ride, she takes action. Immediately jumping up onto the hood, Melissa stares the criminal right in the eyes. According to an interview the victim provided to various news outlets, the thief laughed in her face and turned the wipers on, in an attempt to brush her off like mere precipitation. That didn’t work. She grabs onto the wipers for dear life. Then in two successive attempts, the would-be thief accelerates quickly and brakes, trying to shake Ms. Smith from the hood.
At this point, the thief seems to have his own fight-or-flight moment, and realizes that he’s either going to escalate this car theft to a kidnapping and probable manslaughter charge, or have to give up entirely. Choosing flight, he grabs Ms. Smith’s purse, phone, and wallet from the Outback, and returns to join his comrades in the back of the Deville.
I found unedited footage for you, so you can watch in peace without the inane audio commentary from a talking head. There’s no sound at all in this clip, but you don’t really need it.
Our question today: Would you have taken the same action?
Before we get to your decision, take a look at what Subaru of America shared on Facebook.
Subaru’s opinion is fairly cut and dry; an owner was doing what was necessary because of Subaru Love. Interesting.
But now I turn it over to you, B&B. Faced with this same situation (unarmed and alone), which do you choose?
- Fight it out with a would-be carjacker, risking life and limb for your CUV.
- Find a phone, and let the authorities and insurance company handle it from there.
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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WOULD I FIGHT FOR MY CAR? Depends which car I was using. First they would have to get the keys from me. If they were not holding a gun or knife, I would fight.
Subarus can be replaced. Fairly easily, in fact. But you can't drive Forest Service roads when you're dead.