You know a movie is about to get good when an action scene begins with "follow that car!" Whether the passenger is a police officer, CIA agent, civilian, or a superhero that can't fly, sometimes they need an extra helping hand in catching the bad guy.
Collected below are some of the best "following" stories from around the world. Although all of the stories are different, you can feel each person's satisfaction when they get to yell "follow that car!" to their driver.
23. Fake Out
A few years ago, I called a taxi to pick me up, and when it arrived, I jumped in and said, "FOLLOW THAT CAR!"
The driver looked at me kind of strangely in the rear-view mirror, and I said "Sorry, I've just always wanted to say that." And he said, "I've always wanted someone to jump in my car and say that!"
We mentally high-fived each other and had a lovely chat on the wait to the airport.
(And he got a HUGE tip for being such a sport.)
22. Failed Joke
Maybe 4 years or so ago, my friend and I had just gotten in an Uber outside a club.
This college age guy hopped in after us and basically sat on my lap and screamed "Follow that car!" I screamed my head off, my friend tried to push him out the door.
He got out and high-fived all his friends like he'd pulled the funniest joke ever.
Uber driver pulled over and told a bike cop, and the guy was arrested for intoxication and disorderly conduct.
orangemania
21. Wholesome Quest
I used to be a taxi driver for a couple of years, and on a few occasions, I was told to “Follow that car!” Here is one of my favorite times.
I was called to a house in the suburbs, a small but well-kept home. I waited outside for a few minutes and got a little bored as he said it was urgent.
When they finally came out they told me to drive to the highway and wait until we saw a baby blue jaguar. Weird request, but I did so, thinking it should be an easy car to spot.
While we were near the highway, we waited around 10 minutes, meanwhile we’re just sat in silence. Once we saw the car he shouted, “FOLLOW THAT CAR!” So, I pulled out and started to drive, until the client told me to pull over.
The blue jaguar had pulled over too, turned out to be his brother who he hadn’t seen in over 4 years due to military work.
We talked for a good while, explaining their story and so on and then the client got into his brother’s car so they could visit their parents.
Schwoaze
20. Cowboy Chase
I'm walking up to the West Seattle Street Fair with my girlfriend, when BAM! This SUV jumps a curb, and proceeds to side-swiped another car. The SUV manages to cross traffic and as we connected the dots and we go running.
The woman is still driving down the road, hits a traffic circle, keeps going.
A man pulls up next to me and yells, "That a hit and run?"
"Yup!"
"Get in!"
I cowboy-up riding shotgun in dude's pickup. We chase the SUV down for about a mile before she stops. Then we got her info and took it back to the owner of the vehicle.
In the end, my adrenaline-riddled brain was so focused on getting her info, I didn’t call the cops, which I should have. I did find out through, from the owner of the victim’s car that they eventually got her but not before she did more damage around the town.
Victory.
19. Too much
I work as a private chauffeur. I regularly drive intoxicated rich people home after luxury dinners with excessive complementary wine tastings.
On one occasion my customer got in, after too many drinks, and shouted for me to follow a black Jaguar. This was the car of his friend who was driving under the influence. For the entire ride, my customer shouted at me to go faster, while also on the phone with his friend, cursing at him and laughing.
When the friend stopped at a red light, he ordered me to pull up as close to the Jaguar as possible, then rolled down the window and puked against the side of his friends' car. "Ugly car", he said, then puked again as his friend shouted through his car window how my customer "couldn't drink like a man".
That friend promised me a tip, but ended up speeding off after my customer had hung up the phone and started snoring from the backseat. I ended up having to carry my customer to his doorstep, no tips.
congerdesign
18. Quick Get Away
My friend used to drive a rickshaw in a Glasgow. One night two huge guys jumped in and said, "Go!"
He quickly took off. As he was driving, he was told that they were being chased by the police. When he was (very quickly) stopped by the police, the men were apprehended and were placed in a police van.
Once the men were in the police, he noticed the van rocking violently. All of sudden, the doors burst open and the men started fleeing.
I'm not sure how much of that story is true, but two guys using a rickshaw as a getaway vehicle is the most Glaswegian thing I've ever heard.
17. "Like the Movies"
I did it to a cabbie once. Long story.
My girlfriend was getting ready to go on a massive trip for work, that would keep me from seeing for over a month. Just prior to her announcement that she would be gone for so long, I had gone out and got a custom engagement ring for her. I had just got the ring back, and I didn't have the nerves, the patience, or the ability to be quiet about it for over a month while she was gone, so I had to propose to her before she left.
I had this massive idea, that I would wait for her to go the airport. I would get there just before her, sneak through the crowd of people that were checking in, and just as she was about to go through security, there I would be, ready for the big moment. I wanted to drop to a knee, in front of a massive group of people, like in the movies.
So, I saw her off from our apartment, with a hug, a kiss, and a big "I'll miss you.” She left the front of the building in a cab, and immediately after, the second cab I called showed up. I hopped in, yelled to the cabbie "Follow that cab, but more importantly, don't let the passenger see you following them!".
On the way, I explained to him how great she was, how she came into my life at just the right time, and how I couldn't imagine my life with anyone but her. We felt the same. In his broken English, he said it was cute, like in the movies.
We made it to the airport, at almost the same time as her, but I stayed back. I paid the cabbie, and snuck into the arrivals doors, and managed to work my way hastily through the large amounts of domestic arrivals showing up, past the electronic check in terminals, and right off to the side of the security line, just out of sight from where she would walk up.
I waited for what felt like an eternity, to see her beautiful face and the smile I knew so well. Then I saw her. She looked as perfect as I could ever imagine. I was thinking a million things all at once. That's going to be my wife, the mother of my children, the person I'll grow old with.
Then, there was some other guy with her. He wasn't just walking with her, she was walking WITH him, holding hands. They looked like a couple. I couldn't believe my eyes. Was it the same girl? Did my cab accidentally follow the wrong one? Did we enter a different dimension? Was I dreaming? My whole world started to come down.
Then she kissed him. As quickly as my heart raced at the thought of our lives together, it quickly slowed with the thought of her not being there, growing old with me. She would grow old with someone else. Would she? Could she? Could I forgive her?
I quickly popped my collar up on my jacket, turned away, while still holding the ring box in my pocket, and found my way through the groups of people, back to the arrival doors, and out to a cab.
I made my way home, spending the next few days thinking about everything. Any time she texted me, or facetimed, I held it together. I talked with close male and female friends, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. No one understood what was going on, and I couldn't find a reason.
She eventually came back. I picked her up from the airport, we small talked in the car. We got back to our place. I asked how her trip was. Who she went with? Where they went? What they did? She mentioned various work people.
She asked me how my time was. I told her straight up. It was terrible. I said I had gone to the airport. I followed the cab. I waited at the gate. I saw what I saw.
She told me it was just a fling. It was someone from work. They "clicked over their mutual disdain for their supervisor".
That was 11 years ago. Since then, I met my best friend, and we are about to get married this fall. I couldn't have asked for a better woman.
16. "I was the one..."
I was actually the person who jumped in the taxi and said, “Follow that bus!” As we were moving, I said, “Try to get to the next stop before the bus, please, it’s important!”
I had forgotten my phone on the bus, and that was the only thing I could think of, there was no way I’d outrun the bus. If I had had tried to run it, I would have had to cross a big boulevard and through a traffic light, and after that it was a long stretch where I’d stand no chance.
The guy actually made it, and even told me to just go and not pay anything (to be fair it took him like a minute or two but still a kind gesture).
So cheers to you, random genuinely nice taxi driver, you are a gentleman and a scholar!
15. Trash Day
A man was trying to pick up some garbage (he was working as a sanitation worker) and his pal drove off thinking he was in the back.
The man ran to my car, kept knocking on my window, and said to follow that truck in a voice so loud all of New York City could hear and then hopped in.
I pretty sure I drove through a red light to get to the dumpster truck, but he paid me a 20 so it was worth it.
14. "Get Me Out of Here!"
I wasn’t quite told to follow that car, and I am not a cab driver. One night though, I was sitting at a Whataburger drive-thru and a guy jumped into my car and said, "I'm not gonna rob you or anything, but you need to get the heck out of here right now, two guys just ran me off the road!"
I thought he was full of it at first, so I started to argue with him to get out. As we were going back and forth, I noticed two huge dudes pulling a tire iron out of the trunk of a car, one of them pointed at my car, and said "There he is!"
They started running towards my car, so I took off. They gave chase, but I had a head start and knew the neighborhood. I was driving way too fast for those streets and hit a speed bump way to hard, but the head start gave me enough time to turn down a side street and kill the lights.
I saw them pass the street in rear view mirror and waited a while until I dropped the dude off at one of his friend's houses, a block or two away from where we hid out.
I apologized for not believing him and he thanked me for getting him away.
13. Taxi Race
One time after a work party a bunch of coworkers and I were going to a different bar and we needed to take cabs.
A few of us got into one cab and the rest in another. One of my coworkers told our cabbie, "Hey, if you can beat that other cab, I'll give you an extra $20." The cabbie smiled in the rear-view and said, "Okay, buddy." He started weaving between cars until he got in front of the other cab.
Then he perfectly timed it so he could get the other cab stuck at a red light while he just made it through. With that head start, he had no need to rush, and he calmly got us to the bar first. I think he actually really enjoyed it and got a pretty nice tip for a short trip.
Emertz76
12. Pay Day
Been driving a cab for about a year now, and I usually work the 6pm-3am shift.
My dispatcher radios me to a house 5 mins before the end of my shift. After a short 2-minute drive (it’s a small city), I pull up in a circle driveway as a car pulls out the other end and speeds off.
The largest man I have ever seen in my life comes barreling out of the house like a bull and jumps in my cab, "Did you see the car that left? follow it!”
I caught up to the car and followed it out to the highway, as soon as it got on the highway the car put on its hazard lights and floors it. The mountain of a man in the back seat said, "My wife is in labor and my father-in-law is driving." He tells me to catch up and he'd give me $200.
So, naturally I floor it, going about 90 mph in a 45-mph zone. His father-in-law happened to be the city police chief and had called in a police escort. I looked in my rear-view mirror and see four cop cars about a mile off and catching up quick. I panicked and almost started to slow down when he told me they were there to escort us.
Sure enough, two of the cop cars go speeding past me like I was in park. Keep in mind, I'm still going 90 mph. The other two pull behind me as we still had 2-3 miles to go. A few minutes later we come squealing up to the E.R., two nurses already waiting outside.
He thanks me, hands me the money and jumps out of the car.
11. "Just Drive!"
When I was 18 driving home late at night in Seattle, I was rear ended by a guy. When I tried to call the cops from a pay phone (it was 1992), he pulled a gun on me and told me to get in his trunk.
So, I knocked him down and ran. Luckily, there was a cab sitting there at a red light, so I got to jump into it and yelled, "Drive, just drive!" He didn't hesitate, just took off.
Dude stayed with me at a 7-11 until the cops came. I won't forget that. I was pretty shaken up.
If you're out there reading this now, thanks taxi driver dude.
David Fulmer
10. Taxi Hunt
Often, I'd get people hopping in and saying "just follow that cab" without giving any real destination. They just had too many people in their group for one taxi. Most of the time, it’s not very exciting.
But one night, I picked up four guys having a bachelor party. One of them had left their phone in a taxi earlier that day. Fortunately, they had been tracking it using another guy’s phone. For 45 minutes, we sped all over the city, cutting off taxis that we thought might have been the one with the phone. Each time, four grown men would hop out of my car in the middle of traffic and swarm the unsuspecting drivers to inquire about the missing phone. It must have scared the heck out of them.
Eventually we found the phone. The meter said $60, but they gave me $120. Not the most exciting story but definitely the most fun fare I've ever had.
9. A Ride to the Hospital Turns into a Police Chase
I got hit by an intoxicated driver who ran a red light, my car was totaled, and my passenger was sent to the hospital in an ambulance. Cop at the scene said he would give me a ride to the hospital once they got my car towed and the scene cleaned up, since it was like 3am and cold outside.
We go to leave, and I sit in the back of the car (not in handcuffs or anything, just chilling like I was riding in a cab), making small talk with the cop about the accident. As we are driving, he hears something on the radio and immediately tells me "HANG ON! I GOTTA RESPOND TO THIS!" Then hits the lights & sirens and starts speeding.
We pull into an alleyway, and he's unbuckling to jump out before the car even stops moving and he yells back at me "STAY DOWN! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN MY CAR! JUST STAY DOWN AND DON'T GET UP UNTIL I COME BACK!" Then he gets out. I peek and he's got his gun out, and it's clear he's chasing after someone on foot. He disappears into the darkness and I hear gunshots, sirens, and other cop cars pulling up. Nobody notices me because they are so busy with whatever is going on.
I was a little worried - like, did this cop just get killed while I'm hiding in the back seat of his car? But luckily, after about 10 minutes, he came back to the car (just fine) and we continued our drive to the hospital.
He explained that someone was running from the cops, and he was the only car near enough to try to cut them off. So, he basically chased the guy back toward the original cops. When the suspect realized he was cornered, he pulled out a weapon and exchanged a couple shots with one of the original cops before being tasered and caught. It didn't sound like anyone was hurt, which was good.
However, the cop giving me a ride was really freaked out - on the way back to the hospital he kept going on about how he shouldn't have been giving me a ride, and how he would be in huge trouble if he or I had been hurt in the encounter. I felt bad about accepting what was supposed to be a short ride, and you could tell he was really feeling like, "I thought giving this kid a ride was the right thing to do, but now I realize why we aren't allowed to do this, someone could have been hurt or killed.”
When he let me out of the cop car at the hospital, I thanked him and he just said "If anyone ever asks how you go to the hospital, you walked" and I agreed.
I figure it's been almost 20 years now so that cop is probably long retired but still appreciate him giving me a ride, crazy experience.
8. Driving in the Forest
I drove a taxi one summer in a party resort.
One time three girls jumped in the car and said, “Follow that car!” The car in question was a black sedan, with tinted black windows. Although the sedan was dark, it didn’t seem that shady of a situation.
We followed the car for 15 minutes, leaving the resort going into a forest. The girls start freaking out, as one of their friends (also a girl) was seen stepping into the sedan. As it turns out, that girl hooked up with some guy in the club they were in earlier, and then were about to continue as all of her friends pulled up next to them.
7. Mysterious Chase
A friend of mine is a taxi driver, and this has happened to him. An elderly man rushed inside his taxi and pointed to follow a red Toyota. The man never explained why he wanted to follow the car; he just tries to frantically call to someone.
My friend asked multiple times if they needed to call the police, but the man just waved no and pointed to follow the car. They circle around the town finally ending up in front of a house where the car they followed had parked.
As the taxi stopped, the man said, "Hold on a moment, I'll pay!" Then he jumped out of the car. An elderly lady stepped out of the red Toyota and the man, apparently her husband, starts to scream "Why did you leave me at the mall?!" The woman was waving her hands screaming, "What are you screaming about, you are here?!" and walked inside the house like nothing happened. The man returned and payed my friend, apologizing for the situation.
My friend thought they were following a burglar or something, but it turned out the lady just forgot her husband at the mall. Funny situation in a way, but also sad as it could be a sign of dementia.
6. "Step on it!"
Back when I was an actor and partying way too hard, I had a director threaten to recast me a week before the show if I was late to rehearsal again. To put that into perspective, recasting a major role after rehearsals have started is generally unheard of, and almost unthinkable so late in the rehearsal process. She was REALLY fed up with me.
On this particular day, I was running late as usual and had five minutes to get to rehearsal. It was a 10-minute walk or a 5-minute drive.
I flagged a cab, hopped in and said, “I need you to take me to this address and, if you can, I need you to step on it!”
The driver smiled and said, “I’ve always wanted to hear that.”
Cue him putting the pedal to the metal. Within 10 seconds, we were approaching 65MPH on a 30MPH city street, weaving through traffic, clipping yellow lights too close for comfort, and generally whipping this cab around in an extraordinarily haphazard and irresponsible fashion. I was stunned; wide-eyed; in absolute shock and terror; unable to process that he quite literally heeded my request or that this was actually happening. I thought I was going to die. It was the best cab ride of my life.
I was two minutes early to rehearsal.
5. Hunting For Neo
I'm a bike-taxi/pedicab driver. I was hanging out a corner when a coworker of mine got a ride across the intersection.
Suddenly, a guy walked up to me and told me to "Follow that cab but keep a distance.” This guy looked current or ex-military judging by his demeanor, haircut, and attitude. He had one of those earbuds like the agents from the Matrix. He also exuded the vibe of being very professional/competent and not giving a crap at the same time.
So, I was born for this moment. I read all the Tom Clancy books as a kid, all the books about spycraft during WWII as well as the cold war, and I’ve watched every spy movie ever made. I kept about 100 yards distance and then would accelerate when they went around a curve anytime they were near a light or intersection (I had all the lights memorized) to ensure we would make the same light but a little later than they did. At one point, a car pulls up alongside and another guy switches places with the original guy, and we keep going. After about 12 blocks the pedicab pulls over ahead of us, and the guy tells me to pull over. Hands me $20 for a $12 ride, although I would have done it for free just to live out my 9 year old fantasy.
Probably just local cops, but I can dream.
4. Brave Granny
I once had somebody jump into my car, and I wasn't even a taxi.
I was driving down the street in Boston and was stopped at a red light, minding my own business. Suddenly, my passenger door flung open and someone climbed in. Completely shocked, I didn't even have time to react. For some reason, it never entered my mind that I should be alarmed or concerned about this trespasser, so when I saw that it was an elderly lady, I just remained calm. Without skipping a beat, she said in a thick Russian accent, "You take me home, please." So, I started driving.
I asked where she lived but she just said, "Keep going, I tell you when to stop." At that point it dawned on me that she probably had dementia, and that she likely thought I was someone she knew or maybe even a taxi. Nope. After a few minutes of conversation, it was abundantly clear that this woman had simply picked the first car she saw, gotten in, and requested a ride. During the 10-minute car ride she asked about my life. I told her I was in college studying psychology at the time, and when I told her this she said, "You make good psychologist, very nice boy." It put a big smile on my face. My grandparents had all died either before I was born or during early childhood, so I don't think I had ever had an elderly person say something like that to me. It felt nice.
Finally, we reached an apartment building, and she told me to pull over. When I put the car in park, she turned to me and said, "Thank you driving me today." I assured her it was no problem at all and wished her the best. Her parting words to me as she climbed out were "Very good boy, good luck with studies." After pausing for a moment, I drove away and just kind of let it be. It was such a nonchalant and comfortable interaction that I resisted my temptation to immediately text friends to tell them what had happened. It felt like that would have cheapened it or turned it into a novelty. It was just so natural, and I went with it.
3. "Get in!"
About a year back I was working as a delivery driver, and stupidly left my keys in the car when I handed someone their food. As I turn around, my car is leaving without me, middle of the day, busy street and some guy just stole it. So I am shouting and chasing on foot as he tries to make it through the traffic, and some guy pulls over and asks what I'm yelling about, I tell him that's my car, and he flings open the passenger door.
Suddenly we were chasing my car, blowing reds, the whole 9 yards. He ended up losing us, and I had to track the car down using Google maps on my computer at home since he had my phone too. Turns out he didn't make it too far, pulled over and just ran. Left everything in there, and it was still running about an hour later when the cops brought me there.
The car still ran, but with some fresh dings to it. Looking back it wasn't the smartest move to get in the car, since that seems like a great way to kidnap someone, but adrenaline is not a smart chemical.
2. Liquid Courage
This is my best “Follow that car” story. I was in Cambodia walking down the street at night, when two guys on motorbikes rode up beside me, one on each side. One of them takes his knife out and snaps my purse right off my shoulder (cross-body style purse) riding off with it.
I'd had a long night on the town, so I was feeling pretty brave. I decided to run barefoot as fast as I could, chasing after them.
Realizing I wasn't going to catch up with them, I see another bike pass me on the left and stop at a house a few yards ahead of me to drop a passenger off. I quickly ran up to him, hopped on his bike without asking and pointed at the men ahead shouting, "Chase them, they stole my purse!" We took off after them.
We rode for maybe a mile before we lost them down an alleyway. I have no idea what my next course of action would have been had we caught up, but you know, liquid courage.
I had the guy take me back to my friends and gave him some cash for the trouble. Lost my phone, my ID, and credit card. Thankfully though, they didn’t take my passport!
1. Mysterious Beat Down
I used to drive a taxi for my uncle’s company. A guy gets in my taxi, says "Just follow that car!" Then he reassures me it’s nothing serious. Except when the other car stops, he gets out and runs to the car we were following and drags the guy out and starts hitting him in the face, hard. I got out yelling at him, calling him a scumbag for lying to me, and he got all in my face and threatened to beat the crap out of me too, said a bunch of racist slurs at me, then ran off.
The guy who got punched had his nose broken. The weirdest part is that he had no idea who that guy was.
