I guess what really ticked me off about all this is that in August of last year a young man ran a red light at Stone dr. and Gibson Mill Rd. and T-Boned me. My truck was hit so hard that it rolled three times. I was ejected from the vehicle and suffered severe injuries. I almost died that night. The worst part about this is that the young man watched as I was thrown from the vehicle and then took off. It has now been 9 months since the accident and nothing has been done. I found out in January who this boy was and spoke to the police, they have yet to do a thing.
So where is the justice........
A stupid confrontation between two men on a side street turns into a complete fiasco, but there is a boy out there who almost killed me [and i am serious when I say it was a close call],
and nothing ever comes of it.
I ended up in jail because I dont have alot of faith in the police doing what they say.
It was a mistake and I am paying a price for it, but everyday i look at my scars and pay a price for someone elses mistake.
So much for justice........

No, you certainly can't. But wouldn't it be fun to take the warning labels off everything and enjoy the show for a while?

As have I. Driving in the Tri is like going to race day and getting on the tracks and hoping you don't get creamed before you can exit. Highway 11W (Stone Drive) is amazing. I remember when we came back for a visit and discovered they were making it into seven lanes. What? Insane. These people can't drive worth a hoot and you give them three more lanes? Anyway, road rage is a common problem, and those who cause the rage rarely even know what happened. They go down the highway, blissfully oblivious to other drivers, texting, talking on the phone, eating, looking at a TV (yes! they put TV's in the FRONT of the vehicles, up over the rear view mirror in the middle, so the DRIVER can watch!!!), lighting cigarettes (like I do on occasion), fiddling with the radio, talking to passengers, eating, and other fun activities. When they do so many stupid things they've ticked off all the other drivers around them, they just shrug and say "WHAT?" It's just a problem with no solution. You can't fix stupid.

Oliver,

NEVER, have I ever experienced drivers like east Tennessee. I have driven all over the country, and it's really surprising how different driving regulations are.

My driving test in Johnson City consisted of about 3 miles worth of a drive down the road. As long as you didn't hit anyone, you passed.

I wonder how much insurance rates would drop if people were required to go to a driving school for so many hours before they would be eligible to take the test... I know it only took one trip to driving school combined with the idea of a sharp insurance rate hike that has kept me from being a leadfoot anymore.

Since the beginning of this debacle, I've wondered how differently this story would have been received had the "road rager" been the one who called the police about an incident with a road rager pulling a gun on him. Had THAT happened, this story would have been a different animal. As it is, everyone on this forum has condemned the rager without having a single additional detail. I've been known to be mad enough at other drivers to want to get out and smack someone myself. I know how maddening it is for a person to be harassed by another arrogant driver, to the point of real anger. I normally don't have an anger problem, but there are times when I drive in big city traffic, and I want to just get out and shake someone who has done something so arrogant and idiotic it could have caused a serious accident. This story was small until the forum opened up and all the gunslingers in the local populace came out to play. Now it's a farce. Be proud, 'slingers. Be very proud!

Well, that does change things.

Laura, you have my sincere apologies for my fellow humans treating an innocent party so idiotically.

I do hope that John checks his temper from now on, and that a confrontation with someone "armed" will make him reconsider letting things get to him in the future.

As for Mr. Salyer, unless the DA chooses to file charges, he will be in the clear. I would assume that if there has been foul play, charges will come for Mr. Salyer as well.

Good luck.

As I've stated, repeatedly, something is missing from the story. Most people do not act like the person in the reported story unless they've been provoked. And I know, some people do, but when I see a story like this, it just grates on my nerves until the whole thing comes out. I feel badly for you. It cannot be easy.

Mr. Douglas,
Thank-you so much for standing up for the "other side of the story". Being as I WAS there that night, there are definately parts of the story that are missing.
I am not here to hash out what happened that night , or who was right or wrong. It takes two, and Mr. Salyer had his part in this also.
The sad thing about all of this is that I ended up getting the worst part of it, and I did nothing.
I am now getting harassed by people who wont bother to put their return address on their mail, and phone calls at all hours of the night.
I may not have told the whole truth to the police, but I only wanted the whole mess to go away. It should have been done and over with that night, but people wont leave me alone.
As far as being a "cougar" well, no one knows what my relationship is with John, only what the paper stated, and some of their facts were wrong, but again that is my personal business and not up for discussion here.
It is truly sad that people can take things like this too far. There are only three people who know what happened that night and we all know how it got started. Yes, John may have a temper, but he was provoked. Enough said. It all went too far and it seems no one will let it go.
Harassing me will not get anything accomplished,
its only making things worse. People are entitled to their opinion, but harassing someone is just plain childish.

Lets look at it piece by piece. Car in front of Mr Salyers weaving... car in front of him stops and blocks the road...man gets out of car and approaches Mr Salyers vehicle...Mr Salyers vehicle is also blocked by cars behind him...Man attempts to enter Mr Salyers Vehicle...Warnings given...Warnings ignored...Firearm Unholstered and displayed...attacker tucks tail and runs. Situation over.

Even if Mr Salyers was tailgating it is no excuse for Mr Adams to take matters in to his own hands and confront Mr Salyers. Two wrongs don't make a right. Mr Adams committed a crime just by his act of road rage.

In TN if someone forcibly enters your place of residence or vehicle. It is automatically presumed that your life is in eminent danger. Justification for use of lethal force regardless if the attacker is armed or not.

Mr Salyers response was textbook, and 100% in the confines of the law. He did not have to warn Mr Adams nor did he have to hold his fire. He showed great restraint and tactical decision making. Kudos Mr Salyers.

I'm glad this event did not turn violent. Mr. Salyer has every right to defend himself.

Were I in this same situation, I would have thrown my car in reverse and done a quick u-turn out of there and then called the police. Pulling a gun would be a last resort for me, because I would be wondering if the other person also has a gun. This was evidently in a residential neighborhood, so I would also be thinking of stray gunshots hitting someone (possibly a child). I am glad no one was hurt in this situation, but I don't believe pulling a gun was the best option here.

Having Known Mr. Salyer for nearly half my life and having discussed the incident with him personally I learned that this guy did indeed become agressive toward him without cause . Mr.Salyer was following several cars behind the the other car initially and just happened to be behind the Ford Probe after a turn into Mr.Salyer's neighborhood. For some reason still unknown to us all , Adams decided with much alcohol on his breath to accost Mr. Salyer and threaten him with violence for following too close which he was not. Mr. Salyer being like minded with myself chose to assert himself in the situation and did very well in ending the conflict without any bodily harm to anyone incdluding himself. Mr.Salyer is a law abiding gun owner with a carry permit and had asked this man to remove his upper torso from inside his vehicle three times before drawing his weapon . The way I see it is , If you don't want trouble then don't go looking for it. You might just find it!

ROWR!!

The real story isn't that the man drew out a gun because he was too scared to settle the argument fist-to-cuffs (also, why did he stop in the first place and don't tell me weaving, we have seen road rage and not ended up in the kingsport paper).

But that the supposely the road rage driver has a COUGAR in the vehicle with him.



=)

It's been a while since someone openly called me a liar. It really makes me angry, but there's no way I can prove to you that I DO have a concealed carry permit. It lives in my wallet, opposite my driver's license. I have been instructed that, if I am stopped by the police, and I have the weapon on my person or in my car, I must relay that information to the police officer immediately. I have been instructed in the proper use of a weapon should I have to use that weapon to protect myself or my property, and the proper procedure to report to the police if I ever use the gun to shoot another human being. I know the responsibilities involved with my permit. I have the Accu-Man target designed for a 50-round course in my home, because I'm quite proud of my shooting expertise. I had to pay a goodly sum for the instruction, and another sum for my permit. The course lasted several hours, and it was stressful for someone who is not a gun "nut" - especially being surrounded by people who WERE gun nuts. Also, I do have a 9 mm as well as a very old rifle - the one I learned to shoot with when I was a kid. I no longer have the target handgun I learned to fire as a teenager, as I gave it to my brother (a long-time NRA member) many years ago. He is a collector. As there is no way to prove any of this to you, you will have to take my word for it. It bothers me a lot that someone would call me a liar. But that's life. As far as the story goes, since I don't live in the Tri, I am unfamiliar with the street mentioned. Also, I am unfamiliar with the people involved. I do, however, believe there is no way this incident happened the way it was reported. There is something missing. Common sense tells me that. You can argue til the cows come home, but you won't change my mind about that.

It wouldn't do much good to get the other side of the story since the only 2 other witnesses are liers. Read the story again, if they can't get their story straight to the police what makes ya'll think you can believe any thing they say. Also Harris is a 2 lane street ( its off watauga) and if a car stopped right in the middle as stated then that would most likely block it, as Mr. Salyer stated. Finally the only charge has been filing a false police report. By the way KPD thank you, ya'll are doin a fine job.

Oliver, you quite obviously do not have a concealed carry permit. Was this the best course of actions? No, but both people got to go home alive. Do these things happen in real life? Well, yeah they do. People flip out for no reason.

Binghampton, NY
Colin Ferguson
Seung-Hui Cho
Michael McLendon
I'd rather die on my feet than on my knees.

Kudos to Mr. Salyer for resolving a conflict quite well with his firearm.

Sir, I did not make this political. A commenter said this: "Oliver, you are a typical liberal - wanting to stand up for the initial assailant in this matter, Mr. Adams." Just trying to defend myself, sir. Nothing more.

I'm a Democrat who has a concealed weapon permit and I own two handguns (a glock and a sig) so don't make this a political thing. As for the guy who pulled the gun, good for him. He felt threatened and did what he needed to do to protect himself.

First of all, I've read this story three times now, and there's no mention of this street being a two-lane street, nor that the Probe blocked the road. As for my being a liberal, that's not the issue here. And as for my taking the side of the "assailant" - which one would that be? The one cursing a man, or the one drawing the gun on a man? And as for my taking anyone's side, I have not, nor have I said that one is right and one is wrong. I HAVE said, and I stand by that statement, that there's only one side to this story so far. Seems like the driver of the Probe just went berserk, started swerving for no reason, stopped the Probe for no reason, got out of the Probe, screaming at the poor unsuspecting good ol' boy (the one with the gun), again, for no reason. The good ol' boy gun toter seems to have been expecting a problem, carrying a gun and all that. And, just one more point (and it's not really anyone's business, but just for the record): I have a gun. I have a concealed carry permit. I have taken the course to certify that I know how to use a gun. I am not a liberal anti-gun wacko. I simply think that using a gun in this situation is a bad decision. And I still want to know the rest of the story. As for the middle-schoolers here who seem bent on trying to tick me off - I told you, it ain't gonna work. You're wasting your time.

Some of y'all need to read the article - it states that Mr. Adams swerved from side to side on Harris Avenue, a two lane road, then stopped in the middle of it thereby blocking Mr. Salyer from driving on by. So, Mr. Salyer merely then showed his handgun after Mr. Adams attempted to get into his car and the situation was resolved. Good job, Mr. Salyer! Oliver, you are a typical liberal - wanting to stand up for the initial assailant in this matter, Mr. Adams. Unfortunately, there are people in this world who will attack with little or no provocation. Exercising ones right to bear arms helps deter such attacks!

Oliver, That's your way of engaging someone who has an opposing opinion ?. Too much jerking will make you go blind.
I'm traveling the rest of the week so I won't have time to revisit this topic. Just wondering, Would you pack the .32, the 9 or the 40 ?.

Jerks don't usually anger me. So no. I'm not angry. Jerks behind the wheel of a 2,000 pound car DO make me angry. No, I will be the first to say you don't confront someone who ticked you off in a car, because the JERK might be packing a gun, and be stupid enough to pull it on you. A confrontation that included yelling and cursing and gesturing would not be bad. However, there's another question that hasn't been addressed: if someone stops alongside the road, someone who obviously is angry with you, are you stupid enough to stop? I would not be. If someone were acting like that, I'd go on by, possibly giving the single-digit salute. But if both men had been armed, someone would have died. That might make sense to you, but not to me. But, just as I predicted, now that you know that it ticks me off, you're so mature and respectful you'll go on saying it, just like all bullies do. Have at it. Stupider people than you have tried to pick fights with me. No. Wait. That's not true. It's hard to define "stupid" on a forum. But others have tried to pick fights with me. Yours ain't gonna work either.

Even if he was provoked there Ollie, would that have justified his actions ?. Endangering all the other innocent people on the road ?. I just made you angry unintentionally, does that make you a victim ?. I'm just trying to understand how you think.

Yeah. I respect anyone who's carrying a gun. You'd better believe it. Problem I have is, when you're on the business end of a gun, it's hard to tell if the carrier is sane or just another gun nut. Again, I have to wonder what the heck provoked the road rager. As I've been guilty of road rage myself - because some nimrod did something breathtakingly stupid - I have to think that something provoked the rager. Maybe I'm wrong. All I know is that, if there's a gun involved, someone made a bad decision.

I know and respect Michael Salyer, even more so that he handled this situation to the best of all concerned. However, for Jonathan Lee Adams: count your blessings cowboy, that your brains are not scattered to the four winds. You just got what they call "a new lease on life." Be careful the next time and listen so that you know the difference between "Stand Up" and "Shut Up".

Oh, you're so profane! I love it!

If you knew me, you'd know that you don't call me "Ollie." Since you don't know me, why on earth would you think it's okay to call me by some off-the-wall juvenile nickname? But now that you know it bothers me, and because you're such a respectful person, I'm sure you'll be calling me Ollie from now on, just to see if you can tick me off, huh? Well, have a go at it. It's so mature and respectful, after all. You think it's okay to find someone guilty of a crime when you only have one side of a story? That's rich. If you were the accused, and you were innocent, you'd be screaming bloody murder. Or, if the road rager had been carrying a Bible and thumped the gunman over the head with it (symbolically, of course, not literally), you'd be all for him doing his thing. How strange that we make up our mind about the people charged with crimes on this forum, and we try, convict and execute them right here, without ever having any additional information about the "crime." It just strikes me that the story is very weird. The gunman was doing absolutely nothing. He was minding his own business. He is innocent. The road rager is guilty. He must be. The gunman said so, didn't he? Might be enough for you, but not for me. Guess I'll wait to hear the rest of the story. Seamy.

I think it's a great story Ollie.
A person with a problem controlling his temper got reigned in and lived to rage again but, I bet he thinks twice next time.

HMMMM. The man who's been charged with road rage just attacked the man with the gun - unprovoked? The gunman was just driving along, minding his own business, and did nothing at all to tick off the road rager? Of course. He's innocent. He's a victim of a road rager. Bless his heart. How awful for him. Well, it would be nice to hear both sides of the story, but that'll never happen. Guns solve everything. Good thing the road rager didn't have a gun too, huh? Then the story could've ended like an old west story, where they drew on each other, fired, and one died and the other lived to tell his side of the story. Wow. Great story!

I love it, way to go Mr.Salyer!! This guy's lucky he isn't in the morgue, you showed restraint sir. This is a perfect example of why gun permits in the hands of responsible people work.