[MR] Re: [storvik] An off topic piece of advice for all

[Rick Steeves]

 From Snopes:
Whether this particular tale is true or not, women driving alone have been
sexually assaulted by rapists pretending to be police officers, so the
advice it gives (to not pull over in deserted areas when signaled to do so
by an unmarked police vehicle) is well worth heeding. Keep driving until
you get to a well-lit area where there are others about. Call 911 and tell
them what's happening. (Although in at least in some U.S. states, #77 on a
cell phone will immediately connect you to that state's highway patrol,
that code is not universal. Some states use #77, but others use *55, *47,
or *HP, and some don't have any special code at all. Rather than
frantically try to figure out which one will work in the area you're in,
get around the problem by going straight to 911.)

Corwyn

At 12:12 AM 1/18/2003, tychoandbert at aol.com wrote:
>An off topic piece of advice for all.
>Tycho
>
><< This is good advise for those of us who drive alone all the time, pass
>
>the word on to your friends and family I know I will remember it since I'm
>always out alone. Feature #77 on your cell phone. I never even knew about
>this #77 feature!
>
>
>This actually happened to someone's daughter.  Lauren was 19 yrs old and in
>college. This story takes place over the Christmas/New Year's holiday break.
>It was the Saturday before New Year's and it was about 1PM in the afternoon,
>and Lauren was driving to visit a friend. An UNMARKED police car pulled up
>behind her and put his lights on. Lauren's parents have 4 children (high
>school and college age) and have always told them never to pull over for an
>unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather wait until they get to a gas
>station, etc. So Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice, and
>promptly called #77 on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that she
>would not pull over right away. She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that
>there was an unmarked police car with a flashing red light on his rooftop
>behind her. The dispatcher checked to see if there was a police car where she
>was and there wasn't and he told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he
>had back-up already on the way. Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her
>and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the
>others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and
>tackled him to the ground.......... the man was a convicted rapist and wanted
>for other crimes. I never knew that bit of advice, but especially for a woman
>alone in a car, you should not pull over for an unmarked car. Apparently
>police have to respect your right to keep going to a "safe" place. You
>obviously need to make some signals that you acknowledge them (i.e. put on
>your hazard lights) or call #77 like Lauren did. Too bad the cell phone
>companies don't give you this little bit of wonderful information.  So now
>it's your turn to let your friends know about #77. >>
>
>------END OF LINE-------
>
>
>
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Rick Steeves
rick at sinister.net                               http://www.sinister.net