Would You Have Stopped?

YOU should NOT!!!! call 911 for somthing like this. 911 is for emergencies. You should call the local police direct number.

911 is way overused becuase its a easy to remember number. Many calls to 911 should to directly to the non emergency police number.


Back to the orginal question. If I didnt see a car nearby I doubt I would have stopped. I may have called the police to have them check it out though.
I drive 50 miles each way to work up the interstate. I generally will not stop unless I know the vehicle but will place calls to state patrol if the weather is very cold or very hot or if I see a lot of young children in the vehicle with an adult.

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Gary in Central Ohio

Depends. I usually stop to help stranded cars, unless it is obvious that the people don't need help, ie, jacking up the car with the spare tire next to the car. Even then I might stop, unless it is a young guy. I once stopped for a guy that had a flat. He had everything he needed, was nothing wrong with him, but tried to get me to change his flat for him.... lazy.

I have rules I follow for picking up hitchhikers. I do not pick up people just standing on the side of the road. They must be walking. I believe people can't wait on others to just carry them everywhere, they should be trying to get there whether they are walking or not. This rule does not appy to obviously hurt, very old people, women (or men) with babies on their hips, or lots and lots of luggage.

Now that I am a correctional officer I do not pick up hitchhikers while in my uniform, though I'll stop for someone that is broke down.

It has gotten to where I only pick up the hitchhikers for the stories. I usually pick them up along I-20, and the stories are usually grand. Lots of homeless people trying to get from one place to another, quite a few people trying to make it to the VA hospital, one older gentleman trying to get from San Diego, CA to North Carolina. He said that he worked on a cruise ship as company for the older ladies, to dance with and stuff like that. Supposedly he was robbed while on shore in CA and spent a month in the hospital, and all his ID was stolen during the robbery. The ship left without him, and he didn't have the documents to go with another ship, didn't have any friends, family in NC to send him new documents, so he was trying to get home. Even if it was all a lie, it was very entertaining.

Rowdy

i generally try to stop - i stopped for a long-haired hippie under his hood once and he was so grateful - no one would stop - scared of his looks - i stopped because he looked just like all my friends!!!!
(and like my current hubby - i like long hair )

I would have stopped.

I also pick up hitch-hikers, but I don't do that with my family in the car (not sure why I don't).

I carry a .45, and figure that even a "badguy" hitch hiker would succumb if I sped up to 100MPH and slammed on the brakes, bouncing them off the dashboard. Never ran into a "badguy" yet!

On the other side of the coin, people are hesitant to stop and help me when I break down because both me and my truck look like the sort of thing your Momma warned you about...

One time, however, I had gone to assist my brother who had broken down on the highway and called me to help. He took my car to get to work, and I waited with his for the tow truck. In the hour that I waited, not one, but THREE people stopped at the scene. None of thme offered help, all three ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS! One of them even broke down right behind me and it ended up being a double tow job for the guy with the wrecker.

LOL, that sounds like me, I drive by but think about that person all day. Like I said before though, I don't usually stop because my children are in the car.

Probably not Your in your yard. Call a neighbor. Better yet buy a booster box with the air compressor 12 volt 400 amp boost for $29. Then you always have a "Jump" friend.

WE have jumped people off in parking lots but seldom stop out on the road. My BIL had a "Broken Down car" guy pull a .25 auto on him. He slammed the car door into the would be attacker and drove off. So it's a gut reaction thing now.

If it were a woman with a child I would stop. I usually do not stop for men. If my husband was with me I would definitely stop.

I wish I could always stop but there is just no way of knowing if it is safe or not.

Here is an example of a situation my friend founs herself in. She was coming home to her place just outside the city. It was very late at night. There was a woman laying on the side of the road. She called 911 on her cell phone and stayed in her car with the windows up and her doors locked. They asked if the woman was breathing. She said she didn't know she wasn't getting out of her car in that area at this time of night. She was willing to stay until the ambulance arrived. That is what she did. The woman was a live and was a known drug addict that had justr curled up on the side of the road to sleep. The police said they had found her this way often.

Is this how you would have handled a similar situation? I think she did the right thing considering the circumstances.

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Simple Rural Living
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folks who are new to the area around here look at me funny cause if they are stopped along the roadside and are out of theirrig.. i stop and ask if they need assistance.... and yes i am armed but here it is more of a common practice to stop and ask anyway.... whats a cell phone? i keep hearing about them.... they something new? round here the cb is catching on.... smoke just dont get high enough over these mountains.

William

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Upon the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who when on the dawn of victory paused to rest, and there resting died.
- John Dretschmer