If you live in a place that suffers from this type of carjacking, take notes
There’s a rash of carjackings happening in Chile for various reasons and a lot of these carjackings, successful or not, are being caught on dashcam.
This latest attempted carjacking turned into instant justice was shared by Redditor jdxv8 on the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit earlier this week.
Check out his video below.
“To give more context, this happened in Chile I wasn’t driving, but I often use that route, “Jdvx8 commented.
“Here this type of carjacking has become so common that it’s a risk to get out in the car after 10 PM and all drivers have learned to keep their distance from the front cars on exits.”
Apparently the popular tactic is to pull in front of a car, often at an on or off-ramp and, when both cars are sandwiched on both sides, stop and take the victim’s car by force. The victim is left without their car, helpless on the side of the road.
“As bad as it sounds, Chile has had a large influx of Venezuelan refugees.” Redditor OpenPath101 explains.
“Socioeconomic circumstances turned many of these poor people into criminals.“
In that case, the truck driver had massive torque on their side and used sheer grunt to push the carjackers’ car out of the way.
Regardless of your car’s size, the counter-tactic jdxv8 shared is still very effective. By keeping an eye out for potential carjackers, you’re able to put some distance between you and the attackers.
Even if you have a small car, keeping force = mass x acceleration in mind, your car’s weight carries a lot of force once you pick up some speed.
Aiming for a gap is a good strategy and, if you’ve got the torque and enough of a front end, slamming into them until you can push them clear out of the way isn’t a shabby choice, either.
As they say, the best defense is a good offense.
