woman broke down on the road... Help or no?

[Two Cold Soakers]

I do what I need to (a few stories)...

I used to stop alot more before I was married with children. Today, I drive past more folks than I care to admit.

Twenty years ago, I picked up a guy with a kid, who were standing on the ramp to an interstate. Drove them 100 miles, (only about 5 miles out of my way) dropped 'em off a few blocks from "the kid's mom's house". Friendly, but quiet. That was a wierd one.

Once I was walking around in the ditch looking for a turtle. A guy in a van stopped and he said he needed to use my jack. I said "For your van?" "No, my wife's car, it's up the road. I said "Mine is a little crank up one" (I drove an escort at the time). He said, "That's the one I need! Grab it and get in!". I said I'd follow him. I hopped in my car and sped away in the opposite direction. No Regets, I could be burried in his basement today had I tagged along on that one.

Another time, recently, 5 am, driving through a mid-sized town (pop 8,000) on my way to go fishing, a twenty year old guy, hops out in front of me, waving his arms. "Great, a drunk staggering home" I say to myself.
I stop and power down the window 2 inches. Guy sez "My old lady's in the hospital having a baby" I'm not sure about this, so I sez "Hop in the back" (bed of the truck, I'll give him a real shakeup and spill if he tries any funny business). I drive two miles out of my way and pull into the emergency drop off. He's lept out before I stop. I shout "Bye, Dad."
I only wish I gave the guy a $20 bill, in hind sight, to buy his old lady flowers.

Use your gut, be suspicious and imagine the worst.

You did the right thing

 

[Baba Louie]

Probably help out, yes. But all the while, I'd never forget the beating my Uncle took back in the 60's for doing the same thing. He stopped to help an apparently stranded solitary female, two goons jumped out of nearby bushes and beat and robbed him (pre car jacking days I guess). I'd never seen a cauliflower ear or swollen shut eye before, couldn't see his broken ribs.

So always check out surroundings, position of car, etc.

With some female types nowadays, always nice to have a witness like a GF/SO in your car to keep anyone from later claiming, "he raped/assaulted me".

Sad that.

 

[pipboy]

consider it a good deed for the day

 

[Jackal]

Depends, is she pretty?

 

[Srigs]

Yes I would!

 

[B.D. Turner]

If you can't stop at least call the police to go help them.

 

[phonesysphonesys]

My wife never thinks about gas until the warning comes on. I would have offered some help. Either go for gas or call for road service. I guess it depends on the situation and your gut feeling. A woman and a small baby are hard to leave to the elements. I would say you did a good thing.
Semper Fi

 

[frez]

As long as you don't think you're cute and don't to bicycling a lot to the point where you can be confident that that they aren't going to rape you with a strapon, then by all means go for it.

 

[evan price]

My wife was helped once in just such a situation and I vowed I would always help if I could safely do so. And at bare minimum I keep the pertinent phone numbers in my cell just in case.

 

[benEzra]

My wife and I have stopped and helped people in that situation, multiple times.

My wife was also helped once when her van overheated on an out-of-town trip (radiator fan motor quit in stop-and-go traffic and boiled off the coolant), and a Good Samaritan showed up with a couple of gallons of water, which got her home.

I personally want to live in a country where people help each other, so I try to do my part. Yes, there is the risk of a trap, so keep your eyes open and use good judgement/tactics, but most people out there who look like they need help are for real.

 

[Zach S]

You did the right thing.

Stopping for disabled vehicles is tacticly stupid, but its the right thing to do IMO.

I normally do it because its been done for me, and I look like a guy that most peoples parents warned them about when they were growing up.

 

[Stretchman]

I read a story in one of the local biker rags. A chick in a parking lot, standing there, bawling her eyes out. He asks her the problem, and she says the little key fob thing won't work, and she can't get into her car. He takes the keys from her, inserts the key into the door, and turns it. Of course, it opens up.

Some people....

Stretch
Quit cigs 1M 1W 1D 19h 4m ago. So far saved $238.76, 1,591 cigs not smoked and counting ...

 

[ctdonath]

Usually I'm open to helping - especially if carrying.

One notable "nope, ain't helping" was the hot babe in tight jeans, revealing shirt, and looong blond hair, all of which she was working hard next to a popped hood. As it obviously not a Maxim photo shoot despite being worthy of one, looked like a set-up in the making.

 

[BenjaminR]

I pretty much agree with what everyone has said. Just think, if you didn't pick her up and help her, maybe a bad guy would have. You probably helped lift a real heavy load off her shoulders. I can't imagine what it would be like being a single mother (it'll never happen as I'm a guy) and being in a situation where I run out of gas in the middle of the road. You did good.

-Benjamin

 

[crofrog]

Any time you interact with people there is a chance things could go south. However the vast magority of times you interact with people things will not go south.

Treat life accordingly.

 

[XD Fan]

You did the right thing.

However, I find it enorsmously sad that we even have to (and we do)discuss the tactical aspects of a helping-someone-out situation.

 

[10-Ring]

Years ago, my son & I broke down on NB on the I-5, cold and before the age of the cell phone & a kind soul stopped & helped us out. I realized then that we have to be able to help our fellow man/woman in a time of need...it's just the right thing to do.
You did the right thing

 

[rustymaggot]

ive stopped to help people before but many times they dont want help from me. im kinda creepy looking. i had a couple of girls actually sprint into a field and then jump thru a barbwire fence and all i did was start to pull over. they ran away before i even stopped. crazy.

people are strange. these days i dont pull up very close and i yell out the window 'hey, you need help?' i offer to call a towtruck for em. if its a hot day ill leave bottled water or sodas on the roadside for em and drive away. people get uncomfortable around me if they dont already know me. i cant help it. i dont try to scare people.

as far as worrying about being robbed, the cars and trucks i drive , no one in their right mind looks at me and thinks im worth robbing.

still, youhave to play each incident by ear. once i had some girl who wanted a ride so bad she threw herself in front of my car at a onramp and just got in before i could drive away. she refused to get out. she didnt seem dangerous so i gave her the ride and when she got out she offered me money.

its a strange world.

 

[harbinger_j]

Help

You did a good thing,

I usually trust a womans instincts about danger more than my own. Also if your GF was with you and says OK, then she can't get jealous.

Since I live in an urban area I rarely stop and help. I figure everyone has a cell phone and would be suspect of someone who stopped.

That said, after listening to your story maybe I should stop and help out more.

 

[Browns Fan]

About 6-7 yrs ago, my family and I were on our way to Myrtle Beach for vacation, when I saw a 3 older, black ladies standing beside a big Lincoln by the side of the road. They, obviously were broke down (had a flat tire), and in need of assistance. I pulled in behind them, got out, and changed their tire for them.

I realize that I was in a pretty vulnerable position while changing the flat tire, even with a P32 in my pocket.

These ladies were on their way to a prayer breakfast, and were thrilled that I had stopped to help, and offered to pay me $20 for my trouble. I politely refused to take it, and told them to put it in the collection plate at church on sunday.

 

[mainebear]

Sometimes we've just got to do the right thing. Looks to me like you assessed the situation, made a decision, and acted on it in a very gentlemanly fashion. We've got daughters with children (and no car sense whatsoever). Up here in Northern Maine people help out others all the time.

Reading the posts etc. I just wonder how much longer our area will remain as benign as it is now. I guess I'll just keep on trying to take The High
Road, and hope that I make the right decision. Sure makes me sleep good at night.

 

[zoom6zoom]

we canceled ours because it doesn't work from where we live, though supposedly it will still work for 911 (never had to try it).

An unactivated cell phone can indeed be used to make 911 calls, but it does need to be able to detect a wireless network. If you're in an area with no coverage, it's a high-tech rock. You could throw it at somebody.

 

[Byron Quick]

I've stopped to render assistance in the past and will do so in the future.

I've picked up hitchhikers when driving an automatic transmission vehicle. I drive with my right hand and a pistol in my left hand by my hip when I do so.

I'll stop to render aid when driving a stick shift but won't pick up hitchhikers.

I assess the situation when choosing whether to stop. If anything appears to be questionable, I drive on and call the cops to report a stranded motorist. I'm sure that means I have driven off on some good people. But there car was positioned too close to concealment for possible assailants.

 

[ms.k]

I have given some scrawny innocent looking men rides in times past. Only two times that I can recall. Thank God they were respectable men. No regrets.

 

[roscoe]

This has been a reassuring thread, considering that gun-owners are so often painted as paraoid.