[MR] An off topic piece of advice for all

[TychoandBert at aol.com]

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. >>

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