Not exactly an ideal place to be discharging a firearm to defend yourself either. Powder burns, glass debris wounds, and extreme hearing damage are all risks in that situation, despite what you see in movies.
The safest course is to accelerate the vehicle through the crowd to find safety. If some idiots want to put themselves in front of a vehicle driven by someone fleeing for their life, then by all means they should be free to do so. But don’t charge the driver. They’ve got enough to deal with with the blood and paint damage.
Man oh man...what has our country come to. Good grief! Feels like our society is disintegrating.
I’ve been working on coming up with some sort of rooftop (for SUVs) or undercarriage mounted OC gas/gas grenade/gas & smoke grenade dispenser that can be fired by remote specifically for this reason.
You are going to need to have a substantial enough vehicle with high enough ground clearance to plow through the crowd if you need to get away. Traditional sedans and econocrapboxen can actually get hung up on bodies in crowds if they don’t have enough of a run-up - and then you’re really screwed.
Perhaps a cowcatcher mounted on the front? Sharpened stakes optional.
I carry one of those devices that scream loudly if you push the button. And I carry earplugs. Put in the earplugs, roll the window down a tiny bit (they’re small) push the button and toss it outside. Anyone ever use one?