Precautions???

I just survey the scene for suspicious characters. Last time I helped a lady get her van out of the snowy ditch and never really thought about needing to defend myself from a 50 year old woman. [Incidentally her husband was an American army ranger, who proudly displayed a special license plate on the vehicle.]

That said... a couple years ago, a native fellow, a little whacked on drugs and evading a crime scene took a stolen vehicle out of town. He ran into the ditch or something and "hitched" a ride with the next people to stop. He promptly robbed them of their vehicle and continued driving. He had problems with that vehicle and this time ran out of gas. A second set of good Samaritans stopped to help him out and he robbed them of their vehicle. He was eventually caught by the RCMP much to the chagrin of those who stopped to help him.

Also a couple of years ago, in a neighbourhood convenience store (2 blocks from me), a man tried to intervene in an argument the clerk was having with a group of teens. He was rewarded with a kitchen knife straight through the heart and passed away at the scene.

So yeah, now that you mention it, perhaps a person should exercise a bit of caution when being a Samaritan! Is that going to stop me from helping out a stranger - NO. But I will think 2x before doing so.