Your car breaks down, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and someone stops to help. Is he or she a good Samaritan or a threat spotting an easy target? If you don’t know the person approaching you, do you know how you would react? USCCA Training Operations Manager Steve Fischer breaks down what you should do if you ever find yourself in this situation.
Driver: Oh my gosh. What’s wrong with my car? Great.
Stranger: Hey, do you need any help?
Driver: Uh, that’s okay. I have help on the way.
Stranger: I know what I’m looking for.
Driver: I’m okay.
Before You Get Out
You just watched a video of a young lady who has some vehicle problems. She has her phone out and she is talking, or trying to talk, to someone to let him or her know what’s going on. The hood of the car is open, and another vehicle is pulling over. Is it a well-intentioned citizen, a helper or an opportunistic bad guy? We don’t know yet.
But here’s my advice to begin with: Let someone know where you are. Send out a text, turn on your GPS locator or start the call before getting out of your car. Staying in the vehicle, a locked vehicle, is still a safer place than to be out in the open where a bad guy could get you. Nonetheless, at least the young lady is on the phone and making that call.
The stranger approaches, and she says, “Stop. I don’t need any help. I’ve got help on the way. They should be here shortly.” That’s perfect. Communicate that loudly. In this particular case, I don’t think there are any witnesses around. But if there were, by communicating loudly enough, you announce the fact that you are a potential victim and not a potential bad guy. If this person continues to advance, the only option really available to you is to keep that distance between you. So you move along with but not to him or her. Stay on the phone, especially if you’re talking to somebody, and get the vehicle between you and the person who’s approaching.
Keep Moving
If the individual walks around, keep on walking. If he or she runs, you run. If you have to play that game, you know, that you did as a kid, and keep that vehicle in between you, you keep the vehicle in between you. It is important that, whatever you do, you remember to keep something in between you and the potential bad guy. You have somebody on the phone. That person is on the way to help.
If this gets to the point where you do feel threatened, pay attention to all of those pre-indicators that are going to tell you if your life is in danger. If you fear death or great bodily harm, it might be time to go for the gun.
If you have no place to go and escape, and you didn’t escalate the situation by agitating that person, the use of force might be the only option you have to save your life. So all those things considered, if you have a situation where you break down, make sure that you’re smart enough to call, identify your location, get help on the way, pay attention to what’s going on around you and don’t let anybody that you don’t know get close enough to you to do you bodily harm.
