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Thats different ;), I mean breakdowns
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I stopped on a horrendous night to pick up a hitch hiker. Turned out he wanted me to jump start his. Which I wouldn't, I felt somewhat cheated.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 21/12/2007 at 20:59
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The bloke mentioned above became aggressive when in the car, calculated the risk ( to the car interior) and drove a few miles out of my way to drop him off where he wanted.
Very tempted though to move the car on 50 yards after that and go back and deal with him, fortunately perhaps for both of us there were people about and I thought better of it.
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I'd just picked up a chinese take-away, when a bloke approached the car, I quickly popped the lock, and wound down the window a crack. He said he wanted a jump-start, but was very vague about which car was his.
I made it quite clear I had no jump-leads, and then, when he stood in front of the car, I convinced him I'd run him over rather than give up the take-away.
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Breakdowns - no, more fool them for not having break down cover. I might make an exception for a young person (male or female), but it would depend where and when. in all honesty there is precious little I could do apart from make a call for them, and most people have mobiles themselves these days.
Hitch hikers - no way, my dad would kill me. I might make an exception for a well dressed man stood next to a broken Alfa Brera however... or Richard Hammond. ;-)
I always stop for people who've fallen over or look injured. Foolish maybe, but I couldn't just carry on by. Same with accidents that have just happened, if it's safe to stop, but I am trained in first aid, so can offer some assistance, rather than just cluttering up the road further. I always remember that nobody stopped for me when I crashed my car, until my knight in a shining white van came along, and I remember how relieved I was!
Edited by PoloGirl on 21/12/2007 at 21:41
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Breakdowns - no more fool them for not having break down cover.
Charming! What about someone who's in a panic and doesn't know to ring their breakdown service? What about someone who's forgotten their phone?
Last week I helped someone who'd broken down and was blocking traffic, there was a half-mile queue behind but nobody got out of their stationary car to help push it out of the way! Took me 30 seconds and no effort - put the broken down car in 1st gear and turn the ignition key in 10 second bursts until it's steered out of the way.
The driver seemed grateful, didn't cost me anything, so why not do it?
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Like you others i've stopped and helped people in the past but have to agree there are some very undesirable people around these days.
I've always tried to be a gentleman and offer support to a lone female, trouble is these days you are likely to be accused of all sorts.
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I go out to a few breakdowns so i perhaps see a bit more than the average.
Some definite unusual people out there too! But some very nice ones too. Most of the time people are glad to see me and I am well received; but I have threatened to drive off from some people who consider their time (or themseleves) as more important than me (in 1 case I was very wary of guys behaviour).
Best advice I give to someone who sees a breakdown/accident/incident whilst driving is to stop (with doors locked) window open a little (enough to speak and listen). Ask if evryone is ok and do they need any services to be called. Only if other people are about would I suggest they stay (even if first aid trained etc) or unless its a severe accident and life is at stake that could well be helped; otherwise drive on and report incident if needed to services that are prepared for such occasions. the police (who often get bad press; from me included over driving mistakes) are more than wiling to attend any incident if called and prefer to do so rather than joe public putting himself at any risk. Very few motorists travel without a mobile phone nowadays.
Even on a quiet road a breakdown/accident can escalate as another unsuspecting vehicle arrives; thats without any personal risk from people "involved" etc.
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To be fair, such incidents are probably few and far between.
Despite all the negative media publicity, the vast majority of people are perfectly normal, law abiding and grateful for assistance from whichever direction it comes.
It's the same with modern youth - many people seem to think that they are the pits, yet 95-98 per cent are exactly the same and you and me.
It's the comparatively small number that let the rest down.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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All this 'everyones a potential knife weilding maniac'is a bit Daily Mail.It makes everyone more fearful and gives a great excuse to just walk on by.Not good.
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'everyones a potential knife weilding maniac'is a bit Daily Mail>>
Actually I'm a dedicated Daily Mail reader (plus the Mail on Sunday and the People)...:-)
< snip >
Edited by PoloGirl on 22/12/2007 at 13:15
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< snip >
Anyway back to the OP, Smart move.... PG
I would be more tempted to do the "wind down the window and offer help" rather than get out my car.
I remember in my security training with the supermarkets, we were told never to open the doors (if on nightshift and shop shut) even if it looked a genuine emergency, eg, female crying for help etc as it could be a set-up.
Edited by PoloGirl on 22/12/2007 at 13:16
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Ran over a dog once, not very pleaseant, just ran staight out in front of the car with its owner hanging onto expanding lead!. offered to take owner & dog to nearest vets & whilst the woman was sitting in the front seat shaking, the dog which was on her lap,which was bleeding from its ears & nose etc it decided to sit up & shake itself!. Never again.
Doc
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It depends on the where and circumstances. If its obviously in the middle of nowhere I will stop and enquire if they are ok. I wont try and fix anything or give them a lift anywhere, but will phone anyone they need.
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< Ulla>
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I lent a couple of chaps a spanner on the grass verge of a narrow bit of the A29 at 1 a.m. a few years back. They were very grateful obviously, because they needed it.
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A couple of years ago I stopped for a biker who had broken down and gave him a lift to the garage where he worked (!) so he could get the van to go back for the bike......
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A few years ago, late one evening on the M40, as I passed a joining down ramp I thought I saw a pair of boots just visible poking out of the tall grass.
I commented to SWMBO on what I thought I had seen and we agreed we should come off at the next exit, retrace and see if it was anyone in need of help.
As I came down said ramp, to my great anger, a hitchhiker jumped up.
My first thoughts were to help him into the next world :-).
On the plus side I had not been in any great rush to get home and it stopped me wondering if I would see any report in the press about an incident on the M40.
As you probably guessed he did not get a lift from me.
I did not have a mobile with me else the Bib would have know about it.
So now I would be very reluctant to stop for anyone.
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I t sounds like you frightened the life out of the poor beggar henry K. Why should you be tempted 'to help him into the next world' ? It sounds like he was minding his own business, maybe having a quick kip between lifts, you turn up - probably not looking too friendly - and all of a sudden it's his fault ... because you got confused ??
'So now I would be very reluctant to stop for anyone'
Luckily for them!
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You are probably right on all counts. He may have had both arms up rather than his thumb.
I was after all doing about 10mph diagonally down the ramp with main beam on to light the ***** up.
I thought I did the right thing and left him " minding his own business" ;-)
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 22/12/2007 at 18:02
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I used to enjoy picking up hitchhikers back in the UK and I always stopped for the blokes carrying the trade plates. Can't anymore with a car full of child seats.
I was with my dad once when we got overtaken in a blizzard on either the Snake or Woodhead Pass by a gang of young lads in an old souped up RWD escort which promptly skidded into a ditch and overturned. We didn't stop to help, I don't think we'd have got going again and I often wonder what happened to them.
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Speaking as someone who hitchhiked around Europe from the age of 14 until my late twenties, even hitching for the crack of it when I had my own transport, now 20 years on the answer is no never under any circumstances.
I may phone the police if I think it called for but stop? No not now never.
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2 weeks ago found a man lying in the road at 4.30 pm to my certain knowledge 5 cars drove around him and then drove on.
There was a period 20odd years ago where that was a common way of attacking motorists and taking their cars around here - a guy I worked with very nearly got caught out, but someone just getting to the their feet off the side of the road caught his eye as he started to get out of his car.
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I saw a totally pallatic man trying to flag a taxi down on the 55 degrees North roundabout in Newcastle tonight, a few seconds later I saw him stagger across the pavement and pass out, did I stop? No chance, it was warm in my car and there was a nice song on the CD player. :-)
As it happened I then took a wrong turning and missed my parking spot so went all the way back around the various one way systems and drove past the same spot, he was back on his feet and staggering further up the road bumping into the various shop fronts as he went.
Pleased I didn't stop!
I have stopped in the past though and rang for help from the car, but I've never had a situation where I've needed to get out of the car to provide help and I think I would be very reluctant to do so.
Blue
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Last year, coming home late, having collected my daughter ( a doctor) we came across a late teens lad, horizontal in the road, with his bike nearby. He was out cold.
I called the ambulance and by the time it arrived he was starting to come round.
It was obviously a case of check him out in A&E but he was not prepared to go.
The lads called his bluff and said " Well then, we will have to call the BiB" This worked and he was later found to be OK but just a little worse for drink.
All sorts of senarios could have accounted for the situation but the simplest one was the outcome.
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There was a time when any motorcyclist would stop if he saw another rider stuck by the roadside. Nowadays, bikes are largely toys, and much more reliable, and the practice seems to have faded away. It was pretty much the norm, though, to offer help, back in the 60s.
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I would stop to offer help to someone who looked local, but never now on a main road anywhere else. The only exception would be for someone obviously a fellow Triumph 2000 or Volvo 240 enthusiast.
In about 1975 I stopped my Triumph Roadster to help a fellow owner who was peering under the bonnet in the opposite carriageway. By the time I had driven on to the next roundabout and turned back, she had already got out the toolkit and was well on the way to completing the repair. Later I read in the club magazine that the girl had replaced the head gasket by the roadside.
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Most of what is said is are examples of exactly what has gone wrong with society. I will generally stop especially for motorcyclists. We've become a nation that passes by the other side.
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Yep, the more you engage with society, the more your decent altruistic and helpful self gets curbed ;)
( i won`t deteriorate further though, and may even improve, as i`ve become reclusive following retirement)
;);)
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Some years ago we lived near Edinburgh. My wife worked in the city centre. One winters Friday evening around 5.30 her Astra broke down in the middle of the usual evening mayhem. Edinburgh is a hilly place and it was just her luck to be facing uphill. She could not go backwards because of traffic and had no alternative but to push the car uphill until she could get it to the side of the road. She is 5'2" and might weigh 8 stones with her coat on. Not one person offered or tried to help and the most useful thing others could think of to do was sound their horns in protest at their delay.
What a world we live in !
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I would have. I saw this in action. Large Police van waiting to turn right, car in front on uphill section of urban road had stalled and wouldn't re-start. Car driver small build female. Sole occupant of Police van got out to help her, then reluctantly followed by a blockaded bus driver and then a couple of other motorists. It only takes one to start something and others follow. We have inherited a sad, sad society no-ones fault but our own, victims of our own fears, inhibitions and paranoia.
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. We have inherited a sad sadsociety no-ones fault but our own victims of our own fears inhibitions and paranoia.
Its not our fault particularly PU, its the lunacy of the knee jerk and tabloid times, i'd say most BR's are fairly normal if a little barmy, chaps and girls.
Not easy trying to behave as a gentleman these days.
Small example my BIL, very decent old fashioned chap in supermarket one day, modern young mum with child in pushchair, said child drops something, which my bil picks up and hands to child and is immediately told he is a paedophile by this young mother.
My wife hates with a vengeance people like that and wishes fervently she could have been there to explain to this young woman the error of her ways.
Of course in retrospect he should have consulted social services to learn of the implications of such a rash act, but for pete's sake its all gone to the far flung reaches of stupidity now.
Trouble is i don't think we've reached anywhere near the bottom yet.
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Not easy trying to behave as a gentleman these days.
You've hit it on the head gordonbennett. (PG, if you're there, don't censor this. My references to ethnic groups are never gratuitous).
I politely, or rudely if necessary, ignore the beggars who are numerous round here. Most of them are white and under 50, but this is a multiracial area and some are black. Virtually none are Asian. The professionals, nearly all white, sit outside stores with their hands out, but some, including the minority of drunken black panhandlers, block your path in the street and hustle for money so you have to walk round them.
The other day a thin tall black guy in his forties or fifties, wearing a hoodie and with a small dog on a lead - quite a usual beggar appurtenance - approached me on the pavement. I mistook his intention and walked past him, but something hurt in his tone as he protested made me stop and look him in the eye. He asked the way to Barlby Road where Talbots used to be made and where the big train crash was. As I started to tell him, it occurred to me that I had been rude and I apologised, without saying what for. He didn't say either, but understood perfectly. His manners were impeccable, far better than my own. He understood the entire situation and forgave me, because I had apologised.
Chastening, that sort of thing.
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Shoespy,
If she had been one of the feminists in my previous profession though, the `helper` could well have received a `hairdryer`. Problem is you just can`t tell until its too late.
Edited by oilrag on 23/12/2007 at 11:13
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Unfortunately there didn't appear to be any Guardian Columnists in the queue to help her.
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Shame, but it is just not worth the personal risk anymore.
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I can quite understand your point of view oilrag. Especially if your natural courtesy was rebuffed on a regular basis.
However, speaking purely personally, and in no way judgementally, I refuse to allow my standards to be diluted by a few vociferous neurotics. Also, given that ones' every movement is probably on someones CCTV nowadays, if we make a "Good Samaritan" offer and it is rudely refused then we can simply walk away in the knowledge that our behaviour is not the questionable element of the exchange and that what's more it could be proven so.
There is a severe and probable danger of society being reduced to the standards of the lowest common denominator and I for one will continue to resist that.
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What is being discussed here is one of the reasons why John Smeaton was deemed to be a hero in the attack on Glasgow Airport. I know the story has grown arms and legs over what he actually did but he struck a chord with the nation because he did not stand back but went to the aide of the policeman.
Just this week I went to a woman's house to collect furniture for our charity shops. It was a sofa bed and too heavy for me to move it myself. I asked if any of her neighbours would be able to help. She said that she had only lived in this house for 4 years and hadn't spoken to her neighbours yet so wouldn't feel right chapping their doors for help!
--
2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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I do tend to stop and help...can't help it. Corny i know but i've even been known to stop the car and walk someone who'se blind across the road if it's busy.
Tend to think, i'd hope other people would help me if i had trouble.
Always used to pick up servicemen hitchhikers or trade platers 15 - 20 years ago, but don't bother now, although last year leaving a Devon Jag dealer, took pity on two delivery drivers with plates who were trudging off in a right downpour...ended up going 10 miles the wrong way to the railway station, because none of the sales staff would give them a lift... what a marvellous advert, a customer could do it, but an employee couldn't... both quite interesting people and one of them gave me some right good feedback on the difference between the 2.0 diesel (wife's car) and the 2.2 diesel (considering upgrading to).
It struck me when watching Ewan and Charlies world jaunt in Long Way Round that the world is quite a helpful place really..it's just so called civilised societies, particulalrly their cities, where you're 'on your own'.
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"Of course in retrospect he should have consulted social services to learn of the implications of such a rash act,"
I would have said, he may have been lucky that there were other people about.
Regards
Edited by oilrag on 23/12/2007 at 17:08
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the world is quite a helpful place really..it's just so called civilised societies
Yes Westpig. Rural Africans are generous with their time and have good manners. The less people have, the more focused they are on the essence of humanity. I have often hhad cause to be grateful for that fact.
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Saw an off-duty cop (in very plain clothes) go to the aid of a store manager to eject a drunken abusive yob at Bangor Tesco's (see other thread somewhere) the other night, no hesitation, abandoned his shopping and jumped in. Foolish probably in this day and age but probably out of a sense of duty.
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Yes shoespy, you succinctly sum up my own view. Helping out the 'fellow traveller' can be broadened into a general view of our notion of what our society means. I've been in general, of the 'interventionist' type most of my life, but the passing years do force more circumspection; the 'what ifs' & 'what's really going on' questions ping into my consciousness before action pings into my limbs.
It's pathetic, though sadly emblematic of society it seems, that honest helpfulness can be misconstrued - I, for example, 'hang back' somewhat when a female (in need) is involved, careful to review the context so that no ambiguity of motive might be felt - or reacted to!
The other side of the coin, the fear of untoward motive in the unfortunate, is another consideration. I recall a lift given to a hitchiker once, who blithely informed me he'd just been released from prison for hi-jacking a car - Rutger Hauer 'Hitch-hiker' scenarios flashed through my mind! I suddenly 'remembered' I had to get a tyre inspection done when passing a Kwik-Fit outlet & bade him farewell in its busy forecourt.
To sum up, I'm cautious now, but try to act as I'd have others act towards me.
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I have just remembered something from the late sixties. Somewhere off the A1 on the way to Glasgow or Liverpool - I forget which - about 1am on a freezing night, with a bit of frost on the road. The road I had turned on to was an old but good dual carriageway. On the slip road were two chaps who had somehow rolled their Vauxhall Victor, which was on its wheels on the verge but heavily foxed, with the roof badly bent and the windscreen, intact, sprung out of the crushed windscreen space. I gave them a lift to wherever the next town was. They climbed into the warmth of my R Type Bentley - my prosperous looking period - and off we rolled.
After a while though they started to express muted alarm. They had caught sight of the speedometer. Neither had ever been at 80 on the road before, and they had just rolled their car on a slippery bit. I slowed down a bit out of deference to their shocked state.
Motoring is very different for different people.
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I´ll stop for hitchhikers if they have either a sign or trade plates, or are obviously students.
Last ´pickup´ was three Sheffield Uni students from Dover to Frankfurt, who were doing a charity hitch to Prague and then Belgrade. We put them up in our granny flat, fed them the next morning and then dropped them at the Ostanschluss. Nice kids.
On the rare occasions when I have to drive to Frankfurt Hahn airport I will always go via the bus stop for the coach service in town and offer a lift - for ?10 a head! Seems daft to go there in an empty car.
I always have jump leads in the car - funnily enough I´ve never used them for the Astra, but plenty of others have!
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Have done it twice - once many years ago when a motor cyclist was hit by a bus - I parked my car so as to protect him from oncoming traffic until the ambulance appeared and I tendered first -aid along with a nurse who jumped off the bus to help. (It happened outside a police station - a bus passenger went there to summon help - they were "too busy" and called a van from another station 6 miles away!)
On another, lone female - car broke down in lane 1 at traffic lights - I was in lane 2 (with SWMBO) turning right. No one seemed to be helping so I stuck on my hazards, jumped out and started helping her. Taxi driver alongside me jumped out after me and we both pushed car out of the road. Range Rover with dressed up toff behing me tooting horn and gesturing madly. SWMBO got out of car at gave him a piece of her mind, and phoned police reporting him for harrassment and verbal assault. He revved up, stuck his car in reverse, and pranged car behind. Taxi driver and me were the witnesses for the poor Astra driver he ran into. Police turned up, took statements, said they couldn't do him for the verbal assult as they weren't present, but did "do" him for having illegal numberplates, dodgy headlight, and a defective tyre (a slit in the sidewall).
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Driving into Leeds a few years ago noticed a car stopped on the inside of the armley roundabout which locals will know as a humongous roundabout with major traffic flow. Parked in from of him and jumped out to enquire if there was something seriously wrong (as no normal person would stop there) and found out he wasn't a normal person. He'd lost his way and stopped to look at a map! - stuck in the inside lane (i.e next to the round bit) of a four carriageway roundabout. I got back in my car and drove off. never again...
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