Vehicle Tactics- seat belt before the gun

Training Training and Tactics
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The truth is that for most of us who carry firearms, there is an excellent chance that a violent encounter will take place while we are in or very close to a vehicle.

High Threat Driving skills are for when the vehicle is in motion; Vehicle Tactics are for when the vehicle is stopped. The vehicle should be considered a tool and a weapon. It is a tool for getting you out of Dodge, and a weapon for going through stuff. The problem comes in when you go from moving to stationary for reasons outside of your control. The vehicle is either mechanically undrivable, or cannot be moved because of obstacles or terrain. At that instant, it goes from being your biggest asset to your biggest liability. Stationary targets are bullet magnets.

As soon as the car is static, the seat belt, that seconds earlier while in motion could save your life, could now actually get you killed.

It comes as no surprise that most vehicle tactics classes for law enforcement, military, and police involve firearms. The problem is that many fail to take into consideration the second holster, the seat belt. The seat belt does the same thing for your body that the holster does for the gun, retention. No matter how much out of the holster work you do you will still probably take your seat belt off more. If your training or lack of training causes you to draw your pistol while seated in the vehicle, how do you plan to get out of the vehicle?

The most popular estimate says that 93%+ people in the world are right handed, making them right handed shooters. The likelihood of you being attacked why alone or at least driving is pretty high compared to you being a passenger. So, imagine at an intersection you get boxed in and people are walking towards you. Your initial response is to draw your pistol and start to shoot. They pull guns and start shooting. You take your left hand and open the door and attempt to get out. You begin to move only to feel your seat belt pulling you back in. You can hear rounds smashing into the metal of your vehicle, your windshield continues to spider web. What do you do?

A. Fixate, shut down, freeze, and die
B. Attempt to reach across your waist with your left hand and unbuckle
C. Put the gun in your left hand, unbuckle with your right, and then switch hands again

None of the three seem like a good option to me, and I cannot think of any more options.

The solution is to have a way of getting out of your seat belt that is tactically sound and to practice it every time you get out of a vehicle.

Practice this stationary, and then try doing it the last 2 seconds or so as the vehicle comes to a complete stop. Start with both hands on the wheel.

  1. Put your left palm over your upper right chest but under the seatbelt
  2. Move your right hand to the seat belt and depress the button
  3. As the seat belt pops, bend your left wrist like you are holding a tray, this hooks the belt and ensures it clears things like cellphones worn on the belt. During this sweeping motion, the left hand lands on the door handle and opens the door.
  4. The right hand comes up from the seat belt and places the vehicle in park.

This is how I teach officers to exit the vehicle during officer survival training. My wife gets annoyed because I do it as a passenger as well and usually have my foot on the ground and the door open, or I am even out of the car before we come to a full stop.

You will be surprised how fluid you become in a short time doing this. It works in all vehicle and seating positions using these principles.-

• The inboard hand always pops the belt
• The outboard hand always sweeps the belt and opens the door

It is amazing how when doing this during force on force your whole world opens up when you are out of the car. You can use cover, concealment, movement, angles, and light much more effectively. This will increase your survival far more than sitting in a static position shooting through your windshield.

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This is a very important issue that is frequently disregarded in training. I am a proponent of seat belt off prior to the vehicle coming to a long stop (obviously not at high speed). I also consider it a good tactic to leave the vehicle in drive if seat belt is on but vehicle stops (think drive through ATM). Easier to hit the gas than draw and have a gunfight. I’m with you on bailing out of down vehicles. Vehicles are death traps and attract bullets.

I the case of a down vehicle or a situation in which you can not ram or teverse out of, my process for removing the belt is a bit different.

  1. left hand to left shoulder index point where belt is.

  2. left hand grabs and follows belt to button (allows easy locating of the button) and right hand begins draw motion.

  3. left hand presses belt release and pulls belt off in direction of door handle (so belt clears body) as right hand draws.

4a) shoot through vehicle until immediate threat is resolved and then place vehicle in park (if necessary) and bail.

Or if situation permits,

4b) (if necessary, place shifter in neutral with left hand and return left hand to door handle). Left hand (should be at door handle) opens door, left foot assists door open, right foot provides push to shift body weight, and the now free left hand provides stability if necessary (reason to be on good shape).

I won’t comment specifically where or to bail out to and how to coordinate movements with team members as that seems close to an OPSEC violation.

Let me know what you think brother, always lookin to tweak TTPs.

And I guess nothing beats an ankle holstered BUG in this scenario with an immediate threat huh?

Major edit: I dont’t actually mess with the shifter until immediate threat is dealt with. Made a major change. Foot on break until immediate threats serviced.

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By the way, great post mercop.

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Thanks

IMHO the only time I want to be shooting from the car is if I am trapped in the car for some reason. To me it is like fighting out of a wheelchair in a phone booth. YMMV- George

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You’re not kidding! It sucks! First time I did it, fortunately im training, I messed up my draw because I forgot to remove my seat belt and fought through the simulated knife attack eventually freeing my gun and ending the scenario. Flustered as hell, I punched open the door and exited (Suburban) but in my state of mind forgot that I STILL had not removed the seat belt. As I flailed about, half hanging out of the vehicle, listening to the laughter from my buddies, I realized the importance of such training. I would have been dead in te real world, not just red in the face.

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During convoy operations, motorcade operations either high or low signature, we teach our students to disengage the seat belt any time that the vehicle is moving slower than 30 mph.

If conducting a move in stop and go city traffic, the seat belt may not even be worn.

Depending on the type of vehicle be employed, soft or hard, the occupant may need to use a foot assist method of opening the door. This may be particularly relevant when involved in an ambush or after an IED event. If the vehicle commander is required to employ his primary weapon it is better served from the ‘V’ rather than through the windshield. (situation dependent!)

It is when SOP’s are tested that people may forget about the seat belt! Moving at speed along a highway then having to conduct a vehicle counter ambush drill after an IED for example!

Always have a hook knife handy in case you need to cut your seatbelt away!

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Thanks Jason. The ‘V’ is the space created between the door frame an the front post of the vehicle’s frame as the door opens, is that right? I’ve trained that and it is infinitely more comfortable with a long gun and provides a bit more cover. Just wante to make sure that is what you are refering to.

And I guess I should look into a hook knife to carry. Any recommendations?

Thanks man, always good to gain knowledge from SMEs.

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Don’t forget to stop the rebound of the door when you fling it open. Nothing ruins your tacticool like having the door you just threw open bounce back and smash you in the face.

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And I bet there was a crowd laughing and ball busting. Hopefully some of them admitted at least to themselves that they would have responded the same way.

If you are spontaneously attacked at the open door or window (meaning you may not have time to decide on an appropriate force response), your hands will instinctively come up just like someone was whipping a ball at your face. Once your hands are engaged it is very hard for your reptilian mind to let you put your hands down to open a seat belt…or draw a weapon. We see this all the time a contact distance force on force scenarios using airsofts and training knives. Your reptilian mind wants to keep your hands up and fighting/controlling/blocking. That is why I harp on popping the belt first and taking it off when stationary.

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Yes that’s right, the ‘V’ is formed by the ‘A-Pillar’ and the line of the door panel. Shooting from the ‘V’ during a contact to the front can be more beneficial for several reasons.

One big one is if you are using a hard car! Shooting through the windshield may prove difficult!

Also due to the lack of visibility, of gassing, glass powder, accuracy issues, weapon selection, accessories on the weapon, target location etc, shooting through the wind shield is not advised.

We’re actually running a course on this in Florida in April!

On the hook knife front, I have always been pretty partial to Gerber hook knives. I was issued one at the unit and have used them outside the military. It seems a big overkill but I carry one of the original CQD folders that has the hook knife and glass break tool in bedded. I carry that knife externally on my kit and use the glass breaker all the time and have the hook knife as a back up to a dedicated hook knife only which is attached to my armor carrier.

This is the one that I have on my kit.

This one is good for flat webbing like seat belts but will let you down if you need to cut thicker diameter cord or rope. Get a wide mouth hook knife for that and make sure it’s a fixed blade and not a folder. Trying to get to a folder and unfolding it under stress is a no go!

Keep your hook knife mounted in an obvious place that is redly accessible with both hands, think IED or MVA.

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It’s hard coded in me to unclick the belt when I get near my stopping point. That said I use high ride holsters that are relatively easy to draw from even if the belt is on.

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My stressful experience with this is as a copper not a troop. The last time before retiring that I pulled my stats was 2004 and that year I conducted over 1100 traffic stops along Rt 40 between Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Working a one man unit on the highway kind of forced you to have a way of doing things. I was also careful not to throw my door open on calls and traffic stops, because of the mentioned bounce back and noise signature. I controlled it with my hand as it opened.

I would also like to point out that I was a fan of interviewing people while standing behind my door, as the door makes an incredible impact weapon.

  • George