I live in a bigger city and commute 30-45 min (depending on traffic) to a smaller town. To get to work I take a busy road, get on interstate for 10 miles and then take side streets through town to get to my office. I work right in the middle of a neighborhood right in a rural-ish area so it's not like a ton of people are going in the direction of my office.
On 2 different occasions this week, I have noticed a car in the distance behind me from the time I leave home to when I get to work. So this morning I purposely left 20 minutes late and sure enough, I noticed the same thing.
The weird thing is that it has been a different car each time.
We haven't lived here long so I don't know many people, and DH is asleep when I leave.
So at what point would this creep you out and would you contact the police? Would they actually do anything?
Post by definitelyO on Oct 11, 2012 9:25:54 GMT -5
so a different car has been behind you - has it been the same driver? next time you see them take a different route and see if they continue to follow you.
When I was trying to get a divorce from my e-h I rented different cars and followed him different days to attempt to find out where he lived so he could be served. I knew where he worked but they could not serve him there. As someone who has followed someone I am more open to the thought that you may have a follower.
I personally would turn other places (instead of going directly to work - cafe, drive through, gas station) to determine if I am actually being followed before notifying the police. In the mean time you should be taking down the color, make, model and plate of your follower.
Since I dont want to quote you, this is a response to your second post.
I would stop at a cafe and grab breakfast and see if you are followed after you get back in your car. If so then please contact someone about this.
Also I would try to figure out exacty when this car is starting to follow you. If it is from your immediate neighborhood that would be another red flag.
Vigurl- that is what I was trying to figure out this morning. Unfortunately I live off of a busy street and there is a ton of congestion, so I really can't tell if a car is following me until I'm getting on interstate. They have been behind me on the main road out of my apartment but definitely did not come out of my own complex.
Is your workplace located in/on the way to an area where a lot of people from your area work? Or is it really out of the ordinary that someone else would take the exact same route as you every day?
Regardless, ditto the PPs ... document the plate numbers, take a different route one day, stop for breakfast and see if they continue to follow you.
Next time it happens, could you put your phone on speakerphone and talk to your H, just to feel secure that someone knows where you are?
The reason I noticed it to begin with is because I live in a very congested area and there's a lot of traffic so I'm constantly looking in my mirrors and wondering if I'm going to get rear-ended. But by the time I get off of interstate, the traffic has really cleared. Not a lot of cars get off at the same exit that i do. If I didn't work in such a rural area then I probably wouldn't have noticed at all.
The first 2 days I felt like I casually noticed it but this morning I was purposely watching every single thing to make sure I wasn't being paranoid.
I would try just pulling over at a gas station on a busy road and getting gas, or just pretend to check your phone. Doing something so you can try to look around and stay aware, and see if you see the car drive by or pull over. Like, something where you can get a license plate number or try to see the person, so you've got something to give to the police.
ETA - and if you do something like this, I would put your H or a friend on speakerphone for the duration of your drive there (and probably on your way home too) since it could be riskier than the other choices suggested by people.
Post by dr.girlfriend on Oct 11, 2012 12:36:29 GMT -5
I'll be the dissenting voice and say I don't quite see what's so strange about this? If even five other people live near you and work anywhere past your office in the smaller town, they would likely follow the same route as you, right? And given that you seem to live in a big city near lots of other people, I would think at least some of them would be commuting the same approximate area? I'm not saying you're nuts or that it doesn't hurt to be alert, but don't underestimate the coincidence. Once you're looking for something, your odds of finding it are much easier. I'm mostly saying so because of the different cars thing.
If it's 2 cars behind, I'm not sure why you just don't pull over after the interstate on one of the side streets and just let the car pass you. Then you can get the make/model and the plate number. But I'm a bit with dr.girlfriend and wondering why it's such an anomoly that two different cars might have the same route. Or what you would be reporting to the police.
I'll be the dissenting voice and say I don't quite see what's so strange about this? If even five other people live near you and work anywhere past your office in the smaller town, they would likely follow the same route as you, right? And given that you seem to live in a big city near lots of other people, I would think at least some of them would be commuting the same approximate area? I'm not saying you're nuts or that it doesn't hurt to be alert, but don't underestimate the coincidence. Once you're looking for something, your odds of finding it are much easier. I'm mostly saying so because of the different cars thing.
I agree that it is could be a coincidence. Like BB said, the majority of the people here are commuting from the area where I work to the city.
I will try to stop somewhere or go a different way. And maybe my H can follow me or something. Maybe I'm crazy
I get that, but you don't need a majority of people going your way to have one car going your way every once in awhile. Even if 99% of people are commuting A to B, the 1% of people commuting B to A will see each other some of the time.
Having been followed by a random person before, be careful! The cops are happy to check things out and even follow the follower if it is a continuous thing. Take a busy, alternate route for a few days and see what happens.
I don't have any reason to believe that anyone would be following me, and I have no idea why it would be different cars. I do have a crazy ex boss and half brother but that's about it. We also own rental property.
The only reason I felt like it was not a random person is because, like I said, I work in a rural area. I can understand someone going in my direction and taking the same exit but this happened all the way to my office. I cut through a neighborhood and there is not a direct way to cut through. So I just find it odd that a car, who has been behind me for 30 minutes, would cut through on the exact same streets.
Anyway, it probably is just a coincidence- I just wanted to explain so you all don't think I'm completely crazy. Thanks for the input.
Post by dr.girlfriend on Oct 11, 2012 19:26:14 GMT -5
Not to belabor the point, but if you put your home and office addresses in a GPS, does it tell you to cut through those same side roads? Just wondering if your shortcut is not as unique as you might think.
Not to belabor the point, but if you put your home and office addresses in a GPS, does it tell you to cut through those same side roads? Just wondering if your shortcut is not as unique as you might think.
No, it doesn't even tell me to take the same exit off of interstate. But I honestly do understand where you are coming from.