As
America keeps changing into whatever it has been becoming during these
last few years, incidents like the ones seen recently are likely to
become more common. People rarely find themselves in this kind of
volatile, extraordinary circumstances and often don’t know how to react.
I’ve been in them more than I care to remember so what I say comes
directly from years of experience, at times coming across riots,
protests and especially roadblocks on daily basis, some of them more
violent than others.
This is the advice I have for you.
Do
NOT run over people. I’m not saying this as a disclaimer alone, I
really do mean it. I fully understand how sensitive people are these
days, the politics, the racial tension. Still, every single life is
precious in its own way and no car, no paint job is worth a human life.
I’m tired of reading about folks in the forums joking about running over
BLM or whatever other activist of any kind, no matter how much you may
disagree with them or not. I doubt many of them have run over people
before. I can tell you one thing though: Hitting an innocent person with
your car is one of the most horrible feelings you can experience. The
only time I felt worse was when my then three year old son nearly died
in a hospital bed. It’s that bad. People say taking any life will cause
endless nightmares. I don’t know about that because it is different when
some scumbag is actively trying to kill you, its you or him in which
case I have no regrets. I do know that believing you just killed a
person that you know wasn’t trying to kill you back messes you up.
Unless you are a monster, no good person wants to carry that weight.
- Stay informed and avoid whenever possible.
In
my case it became somewhat of a daily morning ritual. I would turn on
the TV during breakfast so as to know what roads or parts of town to
avoid before I hit the road. At times it was just easier to use public
transportation, but its not always an option and its not always safer.
If I was taking my car I would turn on the radio to listen to the news
in case new roadblocks were popping up while driving. In some countries
you have Apps that inform you about them too.
If you know there’s
trouble, avoid it at all cost. Not only are you risking getting stuck
for hours, you risk getting attacked and mugged as well. It just isnt
worth it so take an alternative route. I didn’t use one back then,
especially because I knew most of the city like the palm of my hand but
get comfortable with your GPS.
If you happen to see a roadblock
forming right in front of you, act fast. Sometimes you can drive around
them quickly before they close in, sometimes you can make a quick U turn
and get the hell out of there. In those moments, a second too late
makes all the difference between making it home in 5 minutes or getting
stuck there for hours, or worse. An agile vehicle is great for such
situations. I learned to appreciate SUVs for their better than sedan
ground clearance and off road capability. I don’t need to cross the
nearest national park off road with it. But if I can go off the road to
avoid the roadblock for a bit or go over a sidewalk or boulevard to do
so, then yes I can appreciate that. This is why my daily driver is a
Honda CR-V.
- Remain calm and stay in the vehicle.
It
is easy to get scared, its easy to get angry. In both cases you’ll just
make it worse. If you are scared you may panic, floor the pedal and run
over a bunch of people. If you get angry you may get out of the car to
confront the people blocking your way. This is a very typical reaction
and one you certainly would regret. You start thinking about your rights
being just as important as theirs. You think about the wasted time,
about wanting to get home after a long day, about why can’t you move
around like the free person that you are. You get out of the car and you
are surrounded and outnumbered. It only takes one or two cowards to
strike you from behind, crowd dynamics say you’re likely to get stomped
on once you fall, maybe beaten to death. If you are carrying you may
start shooting. Either way we go back full circle: Just don’t get out of
the vehicle.
Don’t floor it, don’t
speed up, just keep moving slowly. Its easy to get nervous with all the
screaming, with hands and maybe sticks hitting your car. Stay cool,
keep moving slowly. This one time I had people start pushing and rocking
the car as I made it through the crowd. It felt like being in a boat.
Sometimes there so many people you can’t even see the road, see if your
about to hit the curb. You have to focus on getting out of there, know
where you’re going and keep moving slowly, at walking speed.
- Do NOT stop. Whatever you do, when surrounded by protesters and otherwise angry people, do not stop.
Especially if they block your view as in the photo above, keep moving.
If you stop you just encourage them to pile up in front of your car.
They may climb on top of it. Its easier for them to break your windows,
open doors and even pull you out. The responsible citizen will keep
driving at a very slow speed doing his best to slowly push people but no
one can ask of you to stay in a place where your life may be at risk.
Even if you accidentally hit or run over someone keep driving. If you
get out to check on the protester you hit there’s a good chance you’ll
get attacked and in such number your life is clearly at risk. Just keep
driving slowly, get yourself to a safe area to ensure your safety and
then contact the authorities to let them know what just happened.
Riots
and roadblocks can be dangerous and they certainly are stressful.
Hopefully you’ll never have to deal with one but if you do these five
tips will help you get through it.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of
“The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.
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