When I was in university, I did a lot of driving in busy alleyways. I often encountered other cars, leading to friendly, semi-chicken contests to see who would reverse. I liked these moments, even calling them auto jousts. There was no lanceplay or violence of any sort, so the name was misleading, but I liked it.

According to a police report, the Delridge neighborhood witnessed a true auto joust on the morning of November 10. A man was driving south on 14th Ave SW towards SW Holden Street. As he neared the intersection of those streets, another car turned towards him onto 14th Ave SW, causing a vehicular face off. With cars parked on both sides of the street, there was room enough for only one car to pass at a time.

The man told police that he "turned on his flashers and put his vehicle in park." The other driver allegedly got out of his car, approached the first man's car, and told him to back up in order for him to pass.

The man thought this was a foolish idea. He informed the other driver that he would not "back up which (sic) would be the entire block when [the other driver] could back up one vehicle length and let [him] by."

The other driver allegedly reacted to the man's suggestion by punching his window. The victim prepared to jump out of his car, at which point the suspect allegedly "reached into his waist-band and pulled out what appeared to be a 9mm Glock semi-auto and pointed it at [him]."

At the same time, a white van reportedly approached the victim's car from the rear, blocking him in. According to the victim, the suspect "realized that he was not going to get both of the vehicles to back up and ran back to his black Toyota 4runner (front plate held on by wire) got in and backed up."

Interesting that the suspect returned to his car not because he feared someone would see him potentially assaulting another man with a deadly weapon but because he thought his demands were made futile by the arrival of a second car.

Clearly, the way to win at auto joust, as with any duel, is to have a second guard your back. If you see the black 4Runner with the plate hanging on with a wire, be sure to laugh at the driver for losing at auto joust. (But if he gets out of his car, maybe call the police.)