Do you ever pull over and help strangers?

I

In The Ten Ring

New member
I do and do it as often as I can/feel it's safe to do so.

It's 19 degrees out tonight. Driving home I see a truck pulled over on the wrong side of the road. "Very odd" I thought "what is he doing over there?" I wanted to stop and check but there isn't much place to pull over. No lights on the truck.

As I drove past I noticed an interior light on. Hmm....someone is in that pickup. I had to drive a mile up the road before I could turn around. I went back.

Guy is a coal miner headed to his first night with this company. He's had a blow out (and yes, he had, it was shredded). "Only safe place to pull over" and he was right, that is the only space to get off the road on that particular stretch.

My dad's truck was loaded down inside but I made room. Guy was a "country boy"---the kind liberals love to hate---but he was classy. I had to "get a safety certification" to be on mine property (read and sign a safety sheet) but it was pretty neat seeing the tipple up close. Great to see at least some coal mines up and running. Guy offered me $8.00 but I only took $5.00 as dad's truck is hard on gas and it was a decent drive to his job site.

So, do you ever give rides to strangers? Do you ever pull over and help those in need?

Was I armed? Of course. Would I have given him a ride if I hadn't of been?
Good question. I'm not sure.
 
Did, many times in the past, but in today very very seldom and Probabely not ever again.
World has changed and not for the better.
Do not leave my doors unlocked any more either. Sad
 
Around where I live there are a lot of areas that do not have cell phone coverage. If I do not have my children with me I will pull over and render aide / give a ride into town. If I have my children with me I tend not to.
 
In the past, yes I would stop and help folks. In today's times no I don't stop. Last thing I need is trouble for trying to help someone out. Its a different world than it was some 50 years ago, sadly I must add.
 
Almost never. I've heard too many bad stories.

Many years ago, I used to give rides but in hindsight, I really believe I was setting myself up for a lot of trouble.

The most significant one I remember was about 25 years ago. I was coming home, early dusk and the weather was very cold, at or near freezing and getting colder. The road I was on was in the middle of nowhere, high-desert territory and there wasn't a building for several miles in either direction.

The kid I saw had obviously been on the road a while and I figured that no criminal was going to subject himself to that torture for anything less than hijacking a truckload of money. I stopped an picked him up and sure enough, he was a 19-year old kid, hitchhiking about 200 more miles. His story wasn't bad, he didn't appear drunk or tweaking. His clothing was horrible but completely insufficient for walking down the freeway in that cold weather.

I had more pity on him than I should have but I ended up taking him to the house (my wife was REALLY not happy about that!) and let him sleep in the guest room. Made dang sure we knew where the pistol was on the nightstand, to be sure.

Next morning, the kid was still there. Made him shower, gave him some old clothes and and old jacket. Drove him to the nearest truck stop and fed him breakfast and suggested he find a trucker to take him where he needed to go. The kid wanted my address so he could pay me for my effort on his behalf but I told him to help the next guy who needed it and I'd be good with that.

To this day, I'm hoping he got to his destination. But at least for one night, he was warm and fed and safe, all of which would have been questionable otherwise.

-----------------

That story is just an example of my own stupidity. There isn't a chance in hell I'd do that again.

Also, when people are broken down on the side of the road these days, nearly everyone has a cell phone and can call family or friends for help.

--Wag--
 
Not so much, these days

In the past, yes I would stop and help folks. In today's times no I don't stop. Last thing I need is trouble for trying to help someone out. Its a different world than it was some 50 years ago, sadly I must add.
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I have, in the past and not always with good results, such as you. Lately I just stay in the car, keep the engine running and talk to the person through a lowered window. I then measure the attitude and respond accordingly. Lately, It's rare for me to stop unless it's a real emergency. ..... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
I guess I'm a selfish p***k, but I don't ever stop and have never stopped. If it is a bad situation (car accident, fire, body in middle of road, body in middle of road on fire...) I'd just keep driving and call 911.
 
I don't give rides, but I will often stop if alone(not with wife). No one stops anymore. If you don't someone may be stranded a long time. Easy to let them make a call and get on with your day. If it looks shady I will call the non-emergency police number and let them know there is someone with car trouble.
 
Absolutely. Been helped by complete strangers myself. Guy stopped when I was starting a 7 + kilometer hike when I ran out of gas one night out in the boonies. The guy drove me to a gas station and back to my truck. It's a 'What goes around, comes around.' thing. Karma, if you will.
 
Kind of depends on the situation. The last good snow storm we had I counted 5 cars in ditches on the way home. I won't stop to help these people. Most times they have passed me driving to fast for conditions only to end up in a ditch further down the road.

I was much better 20 years ago but times have changed.
 
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Did, many times in the past, but in today very very seldom and Probabely not ever again.
World has changed and not for the better.
Do not leave my doors unlocked any more either. Sad
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Same here.

Love to help someone out that is in trouble, but in today's world. Never more. Most is to call 911 and say someone is in trouble as I motor down the road. Not to say that if I was to see someone getting the daylights beat out of them on the side of the road that I might try to interfere with that but otherwise.....
 
If you know the altruism research, the factors that determine such are:

1. Risk to self
2. Are others around?
3. Do you think you will get praise, rewards for helping?
4. Do you identify with the person to be helped? All the social variables kick in.
5. Do you have the ability?

So there is no simple answer but it is easy to pontificate that you would and those that wouldn't are not nice or moral.
 
Generally, yes, I like to think I have a pretty strong Sixth Sense and my fighting reflexes have not faded. And I can channel Charlie Askins.
One of my favorite such cases was 40 (!) years ago on a late winter afternoon. The Sun had set, saw a compact car in the ditch. A young mother with her child, on her way to the train station to pick up her husband. Loaded them in my car-my trusty old VW Bug-took them to the R/R. Came back, helped the husband push their car out of the ditch.
Fudd that I am, I do believe in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
 
Wild ride

I drive about 55 K per year, I am a travelling salesman, unfortunately due to corporate takeover there is a serious shortage of farmers daughters.....however I digress.

I lived in SoCal for years, and part of my sales territory was Las Vegas. I was in Vegas every other week.
I rarely traveled with the crowd back to SoCal on Sunday afternoon, but in this case I was.

Outside of Vegas I-15 following a minivan doing around 75 I watched in amazement as the minivan left the highway and proceeded across the desert....still doing 75!

Apparently the drivers off road adventure woke him the heck up. No kidding he got airborne a couple of times, was surprised it did not flip.

The driver got the thing turned around and stopped on the shoulder of I-15. I pulled up behind him and got out. If any one in that van was not belted in they would have been hurt badly, it was pretty amazing it stayed on all 4 during his off road adventure.

Apparently the driver thought I was a cop, instead of rolling his window down, he took off again down I-15. There were parts hanging from and falling from his vehicle. I followed him at a safe distance while calling 911 to report this crazy person. All the while blue smoke is pouring out the back of the minivan. He had apparently holed his oil pan in the off road sojurn. He soon coasted to a stop on the side of I-15 and I continued. I will never forget that van careening across the dessert.
 
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I used to stop and try to help people whenever I thought I could help. Heck, when I lived and worked near Crested Buttte, CO a couple dozen years ago it was a regular thing to see other employees hitch-hiking to and from work. Everyone just picked them up, including me.

But that's changed over the years. The last time I did it was for a young lady that was obviously having a lot of trouble with the ten or so dogs she was trying to walk. She was an average-size woman, about 5' 4", 120 lbs. or so and she was leashed to everything from a chihuahua to a couple big labs. Probably well over 200 lbs. worth of dogs attached to her hands.

They apparently saw something in the brush (probably a rabbit) and began dragging the girl down the side of the road. I had just turned onto that street and saw that she was in imminent danger of being dragged head-first down the sidewalk so I pulled over and ran over to help her out. We got the got the dogs stopped but she was a bit shaken and asked if I could walk with her back to her nearest customer's place a few blocks away. It was mid-morning and she didn't set off any red flags so I agreed.

Obviously nothing happened and I felt good that I had kept her from a case of road rash.

Would I help someone if I wasn't armed? I don't honestly know. I guess it would depend on what my gut told me.
 
I had this big long reply typed out this morning but my log in timed out, let me see if I can do better this go around.

If you know the altruism research, the factors that determine such are:

1. Risk to self

Completely subjective but I have some "rules" I go by when it comes to stopping. Last night I violated a couple of those and I'm glad I did.

2. Are others around?

I think I've read that if others are around, people are less likely to step up. (Kitty Genovese case). I'm aware of that and I like being different so ya, even if others are around I tend to ask if I'm needed. Last night we were alone and that's a dark and rural stretch of road. It is straight though, I wouldn't have blocked part of the lane unless the road was straight for a good ways. *Two ambulances did stop until I waved them past, I assume they figured we'd had a crash.

3. Do you think you will get praise, rewards for helping?

True rewards come from within (or from the Holy Spirit) and as we all know, the only things you can really count on by doing the right thing is more cost, more effort, and more risk. The last couple of guys I've helped out demanded to pay me.....one guy bought me an ice cream since he did need help in front of an ice cream shop. (Ice cream was great BTW :) ).

4. Do you identify with the person to be helped? All the social variables kick in.

I must "identify" with a lot of people as I've helped young, old, man, woman, black, white, professional, blue color, police officer, hippie, car crash, drunk, Latino (and not speaking English), etc. It was the hippie-looking guy that bought me the ice cream.

5. Do you have the ability?

My abilities are limited to flat tires, overheats, being stuck (if I have the truck although once I let another guy use my tow strap to pull a girl out of a ditch), dragging tailpipes, hitch hikers, needing rides. I carry more tools than most people you'll find, including axe, cheater bar, breaker bar, crow bar, water, extra jack, road flares, reflective triangles, first aid kit, tow strap, tire plug kit, electric tire pump. I even have a set of the 8 most common SAE and Metric lug nut sockets, all 6 point. :) I plan to make some heavy gauge jumper cables since the store-bought ones are too thin to carry much current.

Well the guy's truck was gone when I went by there today. I hope he's doing well. I prayed for him. We don't often see blowouts on anything other than big truck recaps, I'll bet he's pressed for cash and that's all he could afford. He did mention he bought that tire from a used tire shop. If he's got a good head on his shoulders though he can do well at that coal mine, 70K starting salary is pretty common in that industry. I encouraged him to become an electrician or welder, with those trades he could really clean house. If not for the coal dust, I'd go into the mines myself.

I think we have a duty to help others when we can and I try to live by that. The real test for me is going to do that when I'm in a state that denies the average guy his right to self defense. Since I drive across MD and NY every so often, it's probably going to be there.

*He was taking the long way to that mine, he told me he wasn't sure where he was and I wrote down on a page for him where his truck was. Had he taken the interstate (much faster route) and had that blowout at 70mph, he might well be dead now.
 
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I have and will again, I have changed tires, took to get gas, towed a car to the next exit. Even fed a mom and 3 small children at a diner without them knowing who did it. Do I always do it no but when I see some one that I can help and my gut says do it I do. The only reason is what my grand father taught me.
 
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