Personal protection for riders and drivers. Do you have suggestions on what to carry?

Oi! That is a tough one. While the idea of being able to meet any threat with equal force is a romantic notion, it must be said, you should be able to protect yourself and remain unharmed from any assault or threat. Just because there is a possibility someone could enter your vehicle with a gun, doesn’t mean you should start carrying a gun. I have thought of the pros and cons of tazers, pepper spray and brass knuckles. There seem to be far more cons than pros. Front to back seat combat is problematic at best. Then there’s the whole issue of the assailant getting your weapon. Just having a weapon may make the attacker think you want to engage and bring an attack. I think the whole carrying a weapon idea should be abandoned. Instead, have a very specific plan of action. Execute it smartly and with determination.

As soon as the situation begins and a threatening weapon is produced or using a tone of voice to threaten sets the plan into action. The idea is to pull over and im…

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Oi! That is a tough one. While the idea of being able to meet any threat with equal force is a romantic notion, it must be said, you should be able to protect yourself and remain unharmed from any assault or threat. Just because there is a possibility someone could enter your vehicle with a gun, doesn’t mean you should start carrying a gun. I have thought of the pros and cons of tazers, pepper spray and brass knuckles. There seem to be far more cons than pros. Front to back seat combat is problematic at best. Then there’s the whole issue of the assailant getting your weapon. Just having a weapon may make the attacker think you want to engage and bring an attack. I think the whole carrying a weapon idea should be abandoned. Instead, have a very specific plan of action. Execute it smartly and with determination.

As soon as the situation begins and a threatening weapon is produced or using a tone of voice to threaten sets the plan into action. The idea is to pull over and immediately remove your self from the vehicle. Grab your cell phone and as soon you hit Park you should be out the door. Use a little cunning in letting him know what you are doing so he doesn’t over react. Say something like “Let me pull over so we can talk about it.” “We don’t need to kill ourselves do we?” Be agreeable as though you are going along. Grab your phone and get out of that car. Do Not Pass Go. Do not collect $200. Immediately call 911 and let them sort it out.

This plan is more effective than the whole first paragraph in assuring you won’t get hurt. That car is not your castle so don’t try to defend it. Don’t even try it. Just Bail! Don’t break real hard or it could throw the attacker over the seat into your lap. Don’t forget your phone as it is your only friend in the world at that moment. But yeah, put as much distance as possible between you and that person. Then from a distance summon the authorities. This tactic works well whether you are male or female, tall or short, large or small, cat or dog.

A good reason to put up video cameras inside your ride. Putting up a sign like “Be on your BEST behavior, the world is watching!” to point out the camera could curtail some ideas of a passenger showing out. If not, at least there is a record of it. Thanks for your  upvote.

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In the nineteen seventies and eighties as a cab driver in San Francisco I knew casually three other drivers in the companies where I worked who were murdered by passengers. When I was a new driver and naive about how people act, a couple set me up one afternoon and then attempted to rob me and stab me in the process. They were not successful because I was able to get away from them with only a minor scratch from the mans knife.

I never had such a close call again because I became more alert to the kind of things I needed to do to prevent such a situation from happeneing. As a driver in those days it was a cash business and drivers often ended up with close to two hundred dollars on them at the end of a night. I always made it clear to my passengers that I was alert to them, that I was no fool and would not put up with aggressive behavior, if I got worried about a passengers actions I would pull over and throw them out, if they threatened to report me to the police or the company I al…

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In the nineteen seventies and eighties as a cab driver in San Francisco I knew casually three other drivers in the companies where I worked who were murdered by passengers. When I was a new driver and naive about how people act, a couple set me up one afternoon and then attempted to rob me and stab me in the process. They were not successful because I was able to get away from them with only a minor scratch from the mans knife.

I never had such a close call again because I became more alert to the kind of things I needed to do to prevent such a situation from happeneing. As a driver in those days it was a cash business and drivers often ended up with close to two hundred dollars on them at the end of a night. I always made it clear to my passengers that I was alert to them, that I was no fool and would not put up with aggressive behavior, if I got worried about a passengers actions I would pull over and throw them out, if they threatened to report me to the police or the company I always told them I was all for it and would happily go to the police or give them my name to complain to the company. No one ever crossed me and I never had further problems.

Just befpre I quit driving I ran into a driver I knew who asked if I had heard what had happened to him the night before. He had picked up three young African Americans that to him looked out of place in the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco and took them to a side street near California and Polk near Nob Hill. Two of them got out and the third remained in the back seat and put a knife to his throat. The driver, who knew how to protect himself, had only put his foot on the brake, the car was in gear, stepped on the gas and shot forward, thus slamming the passenger into the back seat, he then stopped quickly, pulled out a gun he was not supposed to carry and shot the passenger in the face. He reported it to the dispatcher, the police were summoned and he was told that they had to take his gun and he should report to the Hall of Justice the next day so he could be cited for carrying a concealed weapon, which he was not allowed to do. At that time to my understanding, it was not leagal for an average citizen to carry a concealed handgun. Times have changed. I would not have a job where I had to carry a gun, personally, it isn't worth the stress.

When I first learned the details about driving for Uber in 2011 the first two things that I liked hearing were that no cash was handled and drivers were only offered a fare one at a time. That meant no exposure to being robbed for my money and that other drivers could not steal my fare from me, because they would do so in a heartbeat if they could get away with it.

The most important thing to remember as a driver is that this is YOUR CAR, you are entitled to respect and safety from your passengers. I play calm music in the car and make it subtley clear when necessary that I am in control of what goes on iside my car. Anyone is free to complain but I NEVER have problems with passengers anymore.

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