Probably around Geneseo or Mt. Morris if I remember right. Two nice little small towns back then. I haven’t been back in Rochester in about 20 years. With all the industry that died there I can’t imagine things are going well for them.
4 Likes
I would pull over (well past) and call the State police/highway patrol. I’m too young to die and too old to take a beating.
12 Likes
I stop all the time and have never had issues, last time I stopped it was on the Warm Springs rez and cell phone service was spotty not available. Guy had been there for 2 hours and I was the only person who stopped, was not able to get his vehicle working but was able to give him a lift to the gas station where he could call family. I live on Oregon so not really worried about being car jacked.
4 Likes
Just ask yourself if you have always been a good judge of character. The situation often dictates.
7 Likes
Sad but it has indeed come to this point.
As pointed out repeatedly above, most everyone now has a cellphone. Better be safe than sorry—or dead, or sued.
8 Likes
50 years ago, I stopped for anyone in need. Was always the Good Samaritan. I’ve saved a couple of lives in my day sadly lost one ( traveling from Norfolk to Woodbridge I-95, middle aged couple on their way back to Ohio from their daughter’s wedding, crushed by semi truck. Saved her but couldn’t release him from crushed driver side. Still haunts me. ) and assisted in a roadside birth!
Today, not a chance! I’m not a mechanic. Plus everyone has a phone!
If they are lying face down in the middle of the road, I’m sticking to the shoulder. Keep on trucking.
Seen too many horror movies, too many dramas, too many crime shows and way too much news!
10 years ago I “might” have stopped if the vehicle was on fire only to ask who they voted for! Yeah! I’m that pissed! 
Democrats are just like Ted Bundy sweet, suave, sophisticated and deadly! I’m more likely to stop for a turtle in the road than a human!
I didn’t create this, they did!
They are the reason we have to carry on a daily basis.
Today, if you’re wearing a MAGA hat, MAGA shirt, a Trump bumper sticker and displaying the AMERICAN FLAG, maybe!
They are shooting people left and right, burning people alive on mass transit, turning the military against itself and you think I’m going to fall for the “banana in the tailpipe” 
You must be joking!
12 Likes
We have a long way to…and a short time to get there. We’re gonna do what they say can’t be done…
8 Likes
12 Likes
I have family that lives up there I go up to visit from time to time
3 Likes
Interesting everyone, many different variables to be aware of. With the high number of mobile phones, that’s a good point.
Even elderly or disabled looking could be a trap. I imagine if they have small children with them, I’d be more inclined to stop for them.
I’ve been on a few longer drives and seen hitch-hikers out there walking during a rainy night.
Reminds me to try to be more prepared so that I’m less likely to be the stranded stranger myself. I enjoy being able to help if I can, but good advice “above” for me to hearken. If I had just two more items to carry, it would be an extra blanket and extra water.
Heard some folks take photos of the license plate before ever exiting one’s car and texting it to one’s family/friend.
9 Likes
Good idea 
8 Likes
It depends.
I have jump started several people’s cars over the years. Parking lots, usually semi-busy as I’m not remote at all very often, pretty obvious situations. That’s really the only ‘car trouble’ I can reasonably and safely help with anyway
8 Likes
I used to stop every time when I saw someone stranded. I have been on the receiving end a few times and it always seemed paying it forward was the best thing to do. With me being a mechanic and always having more than a few tools in the truck, sometimes I could get them going, sometimes it was a lift to get them back to civilization.
I no longer stop on the road to offer assistance to random motorists. The last two times I tried to offer assistance didn’t go so well.
One was a young lady on the side of Highway 6, car on the side of the road, hood up and lots of steam. She had her phone out taking pictures of me before I got out of my truck. She said she had already called someone and declined my offer to stay until they arrived. I had the whole family in the truck at the time, and she could see that I was not just some guy on a lonely stretch of highway. We left. Two days later a Sheriff’s Deputy came to the house asking what had happened on the side of the road. I said we offered help, she declined and we left. I told him I was a mechanic, and I might have been able to get her back on the road. He said she was scared because of my appearance.
The other time, THE LAST TIME, it was a similar situation but up on Highway 21. We, the whole family again, were coming back into town after attending a friend’s wedding out in the country. A vehicle was on the side of the road billowing steam. There was a man and woman. They were within sight of a country store. I got out and took a few steps toward their vehicle, and he yells at me to get back in the truck and leave. I got back in the truck, and we went to the country store. A sheriff’s deputy was there. I told him what had happened and we got back on the road. We never heard anything else about that one.
The only folks I will help on the side of the road are family and friends. Everyone else is on their own.
12 Likes
Twenty years ago….did it all the time. Now..nope.
13 Likes
You don’t watch enough horror movies or read about “slender man” killings. She was 12 years old!
Kids are not kids anymore. Be very careful who you stop for!
Innocence or the appearance of innocence can get you killed!
9 Likes
During my time on patrol, I had no hesitation assisting motorists for a variety of reasons. My approach was always focused on being consistent in what I was doing. First, I notified dispatch of my location, reason for the stop, and provided them with vehicle’s license plate and number of occupants. Second, I relied on our dash camera system, and later, body-worn cameras, for additional documentation. Third, although I primarily worked rural areas as a Deputy, most of these encounters occurred on major highways, where I could easily provide a ride to the nearest gas station when needed.
In retirement, my perspective is more cautious. I have witnessed too many situations where good intentions led to unfortunate outcomes. Some people have suggested taking a photo of the vehicle’s license plate and sending it to a friend or family member, which is a reasonable precaution. If I were to help someone now, I would also share my location (unless that feature is already active on my phone).
Ultimately, the decision for me depends heavily on the environment. I have experienced both sides, being stranded for six hours in the desert on a major highway with no assistance in sight and being the person who arrives to help someone who has been waiting just as long.
10 Likes
I just wish to pass along a little knowledge (Some of you already know, some prolly don’t)
Here is my unasked for advice.
The Roadways today are dangerous ( stop laughing!)
Especially the Interstates now. Ever since Planet Pudding’s Open Borders BS
the byway’s and Highway’s are Death Traps to the Innocent and Inexperienced.
Lets just add a dose of Reality here also the ‘GOOD SAMARITAN’. Stopping now
‘TO HELP’ is a 50/50 possibility you aren’t going to complete your journey HOME.
Even CBS TV many years ago did a ‘CSI’ show on the Serial Killer’s roaming the
Roads looking for victims. (Bu.t in 2025, it isn’t just the Hookers and Hitch hikers who find themselves dead). Road Rage hasn’t gone away, and skells looking for a fast buck, your money, credit cards, your ride to the next town or simply a THRILL KILL is a sh!tty way to end your life. Saint Pete will be very upset with you.
I have found more Dead bodies in the last (4) years long hauling the Desert than my entire career associated with the Military/Security. I CALL IT IN NOW if I do anything at all. I too have been ‘Waved off’ from stopping, I’ve been given the finger, Shouted at (to move on down the road) and that one time I tried to help a ‘damsel in distress’ I was almost assaulted/Killed by two guy’s in the bushes! (They had knives) ( Thank God’ I ‘Felt’ because my Situational Awareness’ antenna was up and vibrating. I actually pulled my weapon because the looks on their faces screamed My Death! and the ‘Lady’ had the death mask on when she felt I was going to be their next victim. She was all Innocent looking when I pulled over. Explaining to the Man why I emptied my Mag on these Scummer’s (Just because I was trying to help) is NOT my idea of a good time (getting 'Cuffed Up, Sued, Incarcerated or dead goes against everything I fought for to make it home. Am I cold Blooded? Prolly, Was I the first to give ‘kids’ my Rations, Treat them with my Aid kit, bring the really bad off ones to My Medic Absofriggin’lootely!. Today things are different, people are different. Wolves roam our streets openly in ‘Sheep’s Clothing’. Our own Politicians are Actively engaging in Warfare against us.
A lot of you GET THIS, Scott does 117% !
You do what you have to do. But please ‘render Aid’ AFTER you engaged your SA !
Scope out the 'Distressed motorists for a minute before you close in.
I want all of you to ‘ARRIVE ALIVE’, @ HOME! Not be the ‘Phone Call’ from the cops
that crushes your Family.
When those guys came out of the bushes I felt Stupid!, Betrayed! How dare they!
But because I was Armed (and prepared to end them) I was Alive to feel those emotions.
Have a care folk’s.
WWG1WGA
13 Likes
Good to see you @Nathan57 Haven’t seen you around these parts in a while. Maybe I’m just not looking in the right threads.
7 Likes
My answer: “It depends.”
I want to help. I suspect most of us on this forum are of that mindset.
But my safety comes first. Not because it’s about me. But rather because of the principle “keep first things first.” First things are my wife and kids. I can’t help them if I’m dead because of trying to help someone else.
The main highway I drive to work is so busy, I likely wouldn’t want to stop due to the possibility of getting hit by a passing vehicle. (Would be different if I knew the person.) Where we live, I’m less worried about people doing something to me if I stop, but, you all already said it better that I might be naive thinking that. If I have family with me, I’m likely not stopping. If I did, I would put another driver in the driver’s seat with the instruction to haul it out of there if anything went sideways and leave me behind if necessary.
I recall two personal instances (likely many more) where I was helped.
When I was in high school, my mom and I were driving home. We were on a two lane highway in rural IL farm country. The water pump in the car went out. We were stuck. No cell phones back in those days. We broke down right in front of a farm house. So we went to the house and asked to use their phone. They let us in and dad came and got us. Today is different.
About 12 or so years ago, we got a flat tire in rural Indiana. I pulled off the road at the edge of a field along the highway. Emptied the trunk and began to change the tire. We had so many people stop to ask about helping that it took twice as long to get the tire changed. But it made me want to move out there where people are actually kind to one another.
When I’ve seen people appear to have a need, I have simply asked “you doing o.k.?” That gives them the option to tell me they are fine and waive me off. It also invites them to ask for help if they need it. It also gives me time to gauge things with situational awareness.
To the point above about location sharing, we use Life360 and Find My on iOS. When my son went off to college he got an Apple Watch with cell service (shout out to @Nathan57 I think that was an idea he gave years ago on another thread). He also has Tile on several of his personal possessions. So we have multiple ways to track his location. My wife is now sporting the same setup so they have redundant communications and location tracking. My daughter will soon have the same setup. When my watch dies, I’ll get a cell enabled version and have redundancy as well.
For all of you manly, bearded, rough-looking guys out there, I know enough people with long beards and that look that it doesn’t bother me anymore. In many instances, robust bearded manhood is the best kind there is. Besides, it proves what gender you are pretty definitively! I think it’s time to grow my beard back out. (I was told I looked like a terrorist when mine got long!)
10 Likes
My beard is a little longer now than what it is in my profile pick.
In my line of work we do a lot with oil field repairs, and my boss always sends me and our oldest tech because we have gray beards. The customers on location tend to see the gray beards as the highest level of experience and knowledge. Our boss, however, is clean shaven and always has his hair perfectly styled even when he is under a truck covered in grease, oil, diesel, coolant or whatever. He looks like a 15-year-old Mexican boy and is actually in his mid 30’s.
9 Likes