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After teaching self defense classes (mostly to women) for over a decade, and spending hours and hours studying statistics, reading firsthand accounts of assaults and other violent crimes, hearing firsthand accounts of assaults from students, and studying some pretty darned disturbing studies done by psychologists and sociologists on criminal behavior, I can tell you that I would never stop to help someone on the side of the road (and I would seriously think twice about stepping in to assist someone being assaulted).

And that's gun or no gun.

Best thing you can do these days is call the police and tell them there's a woman, elderly person, etc. stranded on the side of the road. You just cannot know whether it's a setup or whether it's for real, and there's no telling how badly things might go down should you become the unwitting victim of a con/robbery.

If you feel otherwise, I suggest reading The Little Black Book of Violence - it'll cure you of any hero syndrome you may have real quick, maybe even before you finish the first few chapters. Good read for anyone who carries, too.

On the flip side of this discussion, that's why it's also important to foster an attitude of extreme self-reliance. Because chances are that when things go south, ain't no one coming to help you out...