I narked someone out today

[DGuller]

I was driving home from Atlantic City this evening.  Early on I notice that the red car in front of me is driving pretty erratically, rarely managing to use just one lane at a time.  You know how sometimes even on a crowded highway you somehow hook up with a car, and keep meeting up with it for miles on end?  Well, that red car happened to be that car for me tonight. 

We keep meeting and losing each other for the next 60 miles, and with each successive meeting he looks more and more erratic, doing more and more weird things.  I keep thinking that I really need to call state police and report him, because he looks like a menace on the road, but on the other hand I really hate butting in and causing trouble for other people.  The only time I ever called police was to report my own mugging.  At some point the thought occured to me that if I found out that the guy caused an accident later than night that hurt someone, I'd really feel terrible for a long time for not acting while I could.  I decide to call police when I would get to the next service area, and I really needed to pee anyway. 

Coincidentally, the erratic driver in the red car also pulls into the same service area, so I figure that would make things easier for police.  I call state police and nark him out, telling them his make, color, and plate number, and where he was.  When I check back, he already left the service area, so thought oh, well, I did what I could, and I didn't think that police could find him in the dark and busy highway, if they even took my report seriously.  Surprisingly, just a couple of miles down the road, I see a cruiser with flashing lights stopped on the side of the road, and my friend pulled over in front of it.  I don't think cops would pull over someone just based on some report from a civilian busybody, so I figure that the cop saw the same things I did once he caught up with him.  I don't know how they could pick out one car out of so many in the dark so quickly, but I guess that's why they're professionals.

What does Languish think?  Was it acceptable for me to report the guy to police, and probably get him in a lot of trouble if he was indeed drunk?  Or should I always just mind my own business in such situations?

[Habbaku]

Absolutely acceptable if the guy is behaving like that consistently.  At worst, he gets pulled over and the cops find out he's some old man who needs to get his glasses fixed.

At best, you've netted your first DUI and potentially saved someone a lot more than the annoyance of being pulled over at night.

[DontSayBanana]

I was driving home from Atlantic City this evening.  Early on I notice that the red car in front of me is driving pretty erratically, rarely managing to use just one lane at a time.  You know how sometimes even on a crowded highway you somehow hook up with a car, and keep meeting up with it for miles on end?  Well, that red car happened to be that car for me tonight. 

We keep meeting and losing each other for the next 60 miles, and with each successive meeting he looks more and more erratic, doing more and more weird things.  I keep thinking that I really need to call state police and report him, because he looks like a menace on the road, but on the other hand I really hate butting in and causing trouble for other people.  The only time I ever called police was to report my own mugging.  At some point the thought occured to me that if I found out that the guy caused an accident later than night that hurt someone, I'd really feel terrible for a long time for not acting while I could.  I decide to call police when I would get to the next service area, and I really needed to pee anyway. 

Coincidentally, the erratic driver in the red car also pulls into the same service area, so I figure that would make things easier for police.  I call state police and nark him out, telling them his make, color, and plate number, and where he was.  When I check back, he already left the service area, so thought oh, well, I did what I could, and I didn't think that police could find him in the dark and busy highway, if they even took my report seriously.  Surprisingly, just a couple of miles down the road, I see a cruiser with flashing lights stopped on the side of the road, and my friend pulled over in front of it.  I don't think cops would pull over someone just based on some report from a civilian busybody, so I figure that the cop saw the same things I did once he caught up with him.  I don't know how they could pick out one car out of so many in the dark so quickly, but I guess that's why they're professionals.

What does Languish think?  Was it acceptable for me to report the guy to police, and probably get him in a lot of trouble if he was indeed drunk?  Or should I always just mind my own business in such situations?

AC going north? Would you be talking about the Parkway, here?

Going for a serious, non-Languish answer here: definitely in the right. There's drivers who are just annoying and aggressive, and there are drivers who are erratic and dangerous- when you're on a highway, you might be pleased to see them roar on ahead and think it's not your problem, but if there's any congestion on the road and they cause an accident, it could easily turn into a pileup and become your problem again quite quickly.

[Grey Fox]

I am okay with that.

[HVC]

Slargos is gonna be pissed

[jimmy olsen]

If he was like that for 60 miles it's definitely okay. That guy could have killed himself or someone else.

[Berkut]

Easy call, and the right one. If it is nothing, it is nothing, and no real harm done.

[Jaron]

It was Tim. His fake leg was falling off and he was having trouble with the brake.

[CountDeMoney]

What does Languish think?

Languish thinks you misspelled "narced".  Douche.

[DGuller]

Thanks for your opinions.  I knew I was in the right to report the driver, but I wasn't sure how "cool" was it to do so, since I was conditioned since childhood not to tattle.  I also didn't want to look like a bored civilian trying to play a cop.  Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have been ambivalent about it at all, that guy was most likely not even in the zip code of 0.08.

[The Brain]

Did you use racial profiling? Then the tattle is illegal.

[Slargos]

Slargos is gonna be pissed

Not at all. People who are intoxicated enough to be unable to stay in one lane have no business on the road.

I see a lot of these things but the difference in Scandieweenia is that there's little to no point in calling the police unless you've witnessed an actual crash or maybe a roadside murder-rape since there's no way in hell they're actually going to send one of the few available cars on the report of a fucking civilian that "some dude" is "driving erratically".

[DGuller]

Not at all. People who are intoxicated enough to be unable to stay in one lane have no business on the road.

I see a lot of these things but the difference in Scandieweenia is that there's little to no point in calling the police unless you've witnessed an actual crash or maybe a roadside murder-rape since there's no way in hell they're actually going to send one of the few available cars on the report of a fucking civilian that "some dude" is "driving erratically".

I'm actually surprised that NJ troopers were so quick and on the ball.  I very rarely see them on Garden State Parkway, with or without the flashing lights, and yet somehow at least one of them turned up in a matter of minutes to nab a specific car.  To me it looks like finding a needle in a haystack.  I was very impressed.

[The Brain]

They must have thought you was white folks.

[dps]

I knew I was in the right to report the driver, but I wasn't sure how "cool" was it to do

The world would be a lot better place if people worried more about doing what's right, and less about what's cool.