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by xperthunter
Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:45 pm
Forum: Never Again!!
Topic: Will I stop for "Lady in distress" ??
Replies: 64
Views: 9056

The other side of the coin

While i think this thread establishes that you should be cautious, and personally i will stop to help. I also assess the situation from a distance, alert police if possable, and know my escape routes.

The other side of the coin is this:

In 2004 the unit i was with was deployed to Iraq. We were at Ft. Sam Houston loading vehicles on the railhead and i had just pulled a 36 hour shift in the middle of a hot Texas summer. I was driving home to Ft. Hood taking highway 183 north out of Austin. It was around 1:00am and i had made the turn @ 2657 in the town of Briggs, and 2 miles later i fell asleep at the wheel (we wont go into being young, dumb, and invincible...i do not make a habit of this and regularly pull over). The road went left, i went strait, hit the only piece of concrete and left my rear axle and some debris 10 ft down an embankment, continued on another 30 feet down (and 20 yrds further on) where i was stopped by a kindly tree.

Now awake and full of energy from the Adrenalin, i assessed myself, found no injuries, said a few prayers and thank yous, grabbed a canteen filled it with capree sun sport (its what i had!), slipped back into my boots and started up the embankment, leaving my hazards on. At the top of the embankment i realized 3 things.

1) i didnt know where i was, or how far from what, only that Okalla was ahead.
2) You could not see my car from the road
3) there were no cellphone signals for miles

So off i set. I traveled north towards Okalla and the volunteer fire station i know to be there. On the way i passed several houses, but they are all set back from the house, and i did not want to be shot walking up to someones house at this hour. I was also passed by several vehicles (count 14 total vehicles), none of which stopped, or slowed down.

Why? Because i am tall, dressed in dark fatigues, walking on a road at a ridiculous hour, and theres no obvious signs of distress. Several hours, and 9 miles later, i'm a bit bitter, more than a bit tired (the adrenalin has worn off long ago), and pass out on a tiny bench in-front of the fire station.

What does this tell you: In some situations, it might be kind to stop, at a safe distance, and assess the situation visually, while asking the others pertinent information.

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