What are the rules for calling "shotgun"?

[Dougboy]

A sample question that shows up when you click on the "Post New Thread' button in this forum.

So it got me thinking. What are the rules, if any?

 

[Wolfe]

They differ depending on the people you're with, but here are some common ones:

• Thou shalt not call Shotgun from inside the building you are leaving.
• Thou shalt not call Shotgun until you can see the car.
• If the owner of the vehicle is not driving, they get automatic Shotgun. However, they may decline it, at which point normal Shotgun rules apply.
• If the owner is driving and the owner's significant other is coming along, they get automatic Shotgun. However, they may decline it, at which point normal Shotgun rules apply.
• He who is first to touch the handle of the front passenger door earns Shotgun if no one already called it.
• If the car is equipped with automatic locks and the person who claimed Shotgun pulls on the handle while the door is attempting to unlock, thus forcing the driver to hit the switch again, they must surrender their Shotgun rights. Normal Shotgun rules apply for the second calling.

 

[Philly]

Man Law

15. When calling shotgun, all riders of the car must be outside, and shotgun can only be called when the car is in view. Riders in the car are not allowed to run to shotgun and steal it before the person who called and deserves it arrives there. The driver of the car has no authority to decide on who gets shotgun. If a legitimate confrontation comes up where the rightful owner of the shotgun can not be determined then it will be decided by one round of paper rock scissors (with no shoot). If the two contenders tie 5 times in a row then the rightful owner of the shotgun is to be decided by a UFC cage match in which the first blood drawn decides the rightful owner of shotgun.

Addendum to Man Law No. 15:
If at any point during the process of determining the shotgun rider a hot girl hints that she would like to sit up front the driver has the sole right to declare her the shotgun rider and depending upon the situation may even deny rides to all other passengers. However, if said hot girl is an ex of any passenger they may overrule the driver's decision and make her ride in the back. Additionally, if all passengers happen to be female then revert back to original method of deciding shotgun rider substituting mud wrestling for UFC cage match. The winner then gets either a cold water hose down or shotgun the next ride unless the car is really ****ty and the owner doesn’t care about muddy seats.

From the all-powerful code of life for being a man.

 

[ExigeEvan]

General rule is you have to be in site, and the driver can re-call it by saying "reload".

Shotgun is the least of your worries though, when your mates have Clios and Corsas. The bitch seat (or central rear seat) is the one you want to be more concerned about, avoiding at all means.

 

[Wolfe]

Shotgun is the least of your worries though, when your mates have Clios and Corsas. The bitch seat (or central rear seat) is the one you want to be more concerned about, avoiding at all means.

I guess there's one advantage to living in a country where everyone drives behemoths. Over here, the smallest car I've ridden in with three people in the back is an old Accord.

While in Germany I ended up hitching a ride with a bunch of college-age kids in a little Fiat, although I didn't end up with the middle seat. Of course, at the time I would have been too drunk to care.

 

[exigeracer]

We've got some very very strict shotgunning rules in my car. They are only rules number one and two that Wolfe posted. If there is a discrepancy with the call, the driver is the "judge" in deciding who gets shotgun. If someone is caught cheating, the driver has the right to penalize the guilty party of one shotgun credit, which the victim may use in any situation where the criminal legitimately calls shotgun.

I've caught my friend cheating a couple times, so he still owes me some shotgun time. I used one on the 3-hour way home from Vermont, when everyone was smelly and wet from a full day's worth of snowboarding. He got stuck with tampon seat* with two other mates in the back of the Escort.

* you can guess which one is tampon seat.

 

[Omnis]

You guys are so uptight. In my family, we go by whose legs fit where.

 

[Danoff]

I've caught my friend cheating a couple times, so he still owes me some shotgun time.

How exactly do you cheat at this?

BTW - I think a provision should apply for any rider who actually HAS a shotgun and is thereby better equipped to fulfill the necessary duties.

 

[Philly]

You guys are so uptight. In my family, we go by whose legs fit where.

That's how my family works, but they are lame and not all men who follow man law.

How exactly do you cheat at this?

Easy. You be a total jerk and just sit in the seat even though you didn't win the call. We hate them.

BTW - I think a provision should apply for any rider who actually HAS a shotgun and is thereby better equipped to fulfill the necessary duties.

Honestly, if somebody with a shotgun contests my right to shotgun I'm going to give it to them unless I have something bigger and better.

 

[Danoff]

Easy. You be a total jerk and just sit in the seat even though you didn't win the call. We hate them.

Well that's the obvious way isn't it? It doesn't seem right to dock them only one shotgun credit. That should deserve at least 2. Otherwise it's in everyone's best interest to cheat.

 

[Dougboy]

The bitch seat (or central rear seat) is the one you want to be more concerned about, avoiding at all means.

That is so true. Most of my friends drive small or medium sized cars. Try sitting in the middle rear seat of a civic hatch

But i often prefer the rear seats(when there's two people in the back) over shotgun.

 

[Philly]

Well that's the obvious way isn't it? It doesn't seem right to dock them only one shotgun credit. That should deserve at least 2. Otherwise it's in everyone's best interest to cheat.

I think the failure to abide to man-law is either punishable by death or being demoted to the status of manb***h

Therefore, it is not in everyone's best interest to cheat.

 

[exigeracer]

How exactly do you cheat at this?
.

The one case I can remember, my friend and I were leaving a restaurant, both looking at eachother and pacing faster towards the door until we were in full out run. He got out first and yelled shotgun, but my brother, who had gotten out a few minutes before us, had actually moved the car to the other side of the building. This demoted my friend one shotgun point.

 

[SolidSnake15]

First come first serve. That's the rule in my whole city!

 

[ExigeEvan]

BTW - I think a provision should apply for any rider who actually HAS a shotgun and is thereby better equipped to fulfill the necessary duties.

That is so true. Most of my friends drive small or medium sized cars. Try sitting in the middle rear seat of a civic hatch

There is nothing worse than the middle seat of a VW Lupo, and that's from the experience of fitting my 6ft tall frame into it.

 

[YSSMAN]

At least with my brother and I, the general rule is that you have to be outside, and thats about it. Even then, someone may forgo the declaration of shotgun altogether and just jump in... I'll admit that I've done it more than once getting into my Dad's Avalanche (I can't stand sitting in the back seat), but generally speaking, the rules from above apply under all circumstances.

I'm almost always driving, so its a very rare thing when I actually have to apply the shotgun rules.