Question about street smarts?

There is the use of prudent caution... and then there is paranoia. Prudent caution and paranoia are completely different. Miles apart.
Some folks can't distinguish between the two and mistakenly throw both acts in the same boat.

I once gave advice to a couple of former work co-workers who were going to New Orleans on a business trip. I told them to use caution and be VERY aware of your surroundings, as they also planned to visit the French Quarter. After they returned, they both thought I overreacted & was too "paranoid", as everything went without a hitch.
Two months later, another couple went on the same trip to N.O., but I withheld saying any word of caution. (Altho I knew the street crimes first hand down there).
They got mugged at gunpoint, then assaulted/battered. I'm willin to bet they wouldn't consider my warning of caution that I gave to the other couple... "paranoid".

Same for myself. I've been broke down on the roadside several times in my life. Sometimes someone would stop, but each time I'd always be reasonably cautious to anyone approaching to "give assistance" (hopefully their sole intent). Out of approx 6 to 8 "incident-free" times this occurred, there was that one oh-soo memorable time when I did let my guard down far more than I should have, and in an instant I had a Colt .45ACP held against the side of my head. Yep, he got what little money I had, but frankly at the time I thought I'd be a roadside corpse when all was said & done. I count my blessings that I can type this or anything, today.

THIS is why it irks me to no end, when I see people who think that "the bad stuff NEVER can/will happen to THEM" and "Oh, you're all just paranoid", when I suggest everyone should use prudent caution on the road, especially in the OP's scenario.

Maybe some folks need to experience the touch of a large bore handgun to the head, by a "helpful" stranger, for them to get a higher "education" in the real world.
And I'm sure I'm not alone, and a few other drivers have been thru similar "incidents".

 

Funny you mention door open. Saw an Ozark truck running down 40 through west memphis with one door open. Tried to get him on the radio but no dice. Then he went up 55 north.

 

Don't they rotate the cops onto different beats? Not every cop who ends up at a truck stop as part of his or her shift is going to be "on the take".

Also, if the news gets notified, they can keep the truck drivers name and truck number confidential.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

Carry a second wallet with funny money in it; throw that one at the thief. Maybe buy some of those joke dollar bills with Obama's picture on them for the second wallet.

 

I would just wave and smile and mouth thank you. I agree to not getting out or rolling down your window.

Although, now that I think about it, I have been the guy outside knocking on another drivers door to tell him something like that about his truck, and I've gotten some weird looks. I didn't even think about me popping up to someone's window at night at a rest area/truck stop was weird at the time, but now that I read this, I totally agree. I think in the future I'll signal the driver there is a headlight out from farther back.

 

pull out the 44 mag

 

Can a truck driver legally carry a 44 magnum inside his or her truck?

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

I like your advice.

 

it aint illegal til u get caught

 

The news media will be more likely to want to hurt a driver worse than the thugs on the street. Years ago, they did this story on drug use by truck drivers. They filmed a truck in a truckstop, interviewed a couple truckers and even showed them doing their crank. On national TV. The thing was, we all knew that particular truckstop had been closed for a decade. The whole thing was staged.

Another on they did showed a restaurant with truck parking. At night when the restaurant closed, the working girl would come by. The news media put their spin on things, showed every truck in the parking lot, and put the restaurant out of business. Over 1 streetwalker.

If they get a chance to hang a driver for ratings, odds are they will.