I think the kid tried. He should have called 911 after the first interaction. Mark and VFR 750 said what I was thinking.

On a side note: My uncle was given a citation for riding a wheelie up the side walk on a main street in small town USA (there were no pedestrians). The citation was failure to have control and he beat it in court. Had he been cited for reckless driving however...

I was in more disbelief that he rode through the oil slick several times. When he stopped him initially, he should have removed his helmet so as not to appear intimidating, and so the old man could hear him clearly and shown him the flat and the oil trail. And the kid dialing his cellphone while riding on a public road wasn't very smart on his part.

At a previous job, during a winter storm the snow was falling fast. I was looking out my office window and traffic had come to a stop due to the slight hill. A Brinks Armored truck was waiting for the car in front of it to get going. A OLD lady hit the Brinks truck, backed up and hit them two more times. I put on my coat and flagged down the lady to stop before she hit the truck again. A co worker of mine helped me walk her into our building to get her safe and another co-worker pulled her car into the our parking lot. She was totally rattled and had no business being out of the house, much less trying to drive. She was on her way to a AA meeting and she felt it was important to not miss it. We finally got her to let us look at her wallet and found the phone numbers of her kids.

Someone had to stop her from hitting the Brinks truck again. Fortunately the truck has huge bumpers and it was not damaged but her car was getting destroyed. The family was very grateful we had kept her safe. They took away her keys after that.

I am not sure what I would do with that old man in the OP. Likely call 911 and report a senile old man about to cause harm to himself and others. He should not be driven ever again that is for sure.

I think the 'kid' did good in a sudden and unexpected situation. As for the wheelies, well, what I did when I was a 'kid' .........

I have to laugh at the "Hell, what I'd do is..." macho bravado. Armchair quarterback. You don't know what you'd do until you are there. Props to him for trying. Don't be a douche because you have decades of wisdom and experience and expect the kid to know what you know.

Senility is a scary thing. In that condition people are irrational, prone to violent outbursts, and moved by fear. He did the right thing by calling 911 (should have done it sooner but sometimes you just don't think of things and hindsight is 20/20.

Lastly, NEVER reach into a stranger's car. They could panic and say you attacked them, slam the door with your arm in there, or punch the gas and drag you down the street. Call 911 and let trained in this are handle it. Putting aside the wheelies, that "boy-man" has more common sense than you.