[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

I've stopped using QuickRide, but from what I remember, the verification isn't mandatory. Verifying does help in making the profile look more legitimate and in getting and offering more rides, but there are unverified profiles on the platform. The e-mail verification is renewed every 6 months, and I had delayed it once. My profile lost the "verified" tag but I could still use the app for taking and offering rides.

That's how it was sometime ago - I don't know if things have changed now. Overall it's probably safer than BlaBla car though.

I have offered rides on Quickride for a year now. Yes, the verification is not mandatory. Even without verification, the app can still be used to offer or take rides. But the other party can always decline the request if the profile is unverified. We can even select the option under 'settings' to accept/not accept requests from unverified users.

Another security feature that they have introduced is Government ID verification. That is, verifying using Aadhaar. Only when this is also completed, the profile shows completely green. If only the corporate e-mail is verified and not Aadhaar, it is half green with a clear message. So I guess they have made it as robust and secure as possible.

[arighna.dutta]

Since, we are discussing various incidents, related to giving lifts; Those who are aware of app based car sharing services like "Quickride", do you guys see any loophole that could be exploited for similar crimes, even though, they are validated using official ids?

[mathuranuj]

All I can suggest and we all should follow is to not let any stranger sit in their cars. I never have and never will allow a stranger to sit in my car. There's just too much crime and horror stories and I don't want to be a hero for anyone. I know that there thoughts might be harmful and unfriendly towards a person who truly needs help. But, better safe than sorry. At the end of the day, all these car sharing apps also allow strangers to share your car. In case of any issue or legal or police trouble, their companies will not come to help you. All the problem will be in on your head. Also, as someone said earlier, if any mishap happens and someone is seriously hurt then then the case will be on your head for injuring them. Why would anyone want to invite such issues?

Originally Posted by arighna.dutta

Since, we are discussing various incidents, related to giving lifts; Those who are aware of app based car sharing services like "Quickride", do you guys see any loophole that could be exploited for similar crimes, even though, they are validated using official ids?

[Funny]

I don't prefer giving or taking lifts at all. The only time I had given lift was when a police personnel insisted for a drop on ORR when I was waiting at a signal to turn green. I was hesitant but he went ahead and sat behind me on the bike and I had no choice but to go on. He then asked if I was going to some particular area to which I said no and he asked me to drop him somewhere on my route itself which I did. I often ignore people asking for lifts for all of the reasons stated in this thread and the same goes for services like QuickRide, BlaBlaCar etc.

[ringoism]

Well, this is all reminiscent of Proton's "Asking Strangers for Help" thread recently.

Everyone coming from the metros seems to have a valid negative tale to tell, and not all of them are recent.

My view of human nature is not a pretty one, and I heard someone say recently, "there are places in the world where there is a concentration of evil - cities are like that - where you have a lot of people, you have a lot of evil".

There have been many exceptions to this of course, but a general state of anonymity and transience eliminates any kind of vigilance / accountability, the darker motivations in people take over, the result being that in urban India (and elsewhere) today, things are not looking good at all.

Here in Manali things are still a bit better, I suppose. I pretty regularly give lifts to people - most often non-locals from God-knows-where - on the bike, my wife does the same in the car (with our kids aboard): office-goers, hapless tourists trying to figure out how to arrive at their far-off hotel, GREF (road-building) personnel, villagers from various locales, whatever. In the tourist season especially, it's difficult to find taxis / autos / buses and a lot of people get stuck in town and face the prospect of walking 5-10km's to their destination.

Neither of us has had a bad experience all these years (15 for me and even more for the wife), though we do exercise some wisdom / caution and don't give lifts indiscriminately. In her case passengers are more often (not always) people she at least recognizes (after nearly two decades in a small place they are many), and probably more often (not always) women. Biggest concern I've had personally on the bike is that I might get somebody seated on there who's so drunk he could fall off / get injured - so I avoid anyone who looks tipsy or has booze on the breath. I sometimes wondered what I'd do if I ever were to feel a knife at my back... I suppose I / we've been protected from that till now.

But finally, so many people have expressed sincere gratitude for these small favors, and I know that on those occasions where I myself needed a lift, strangers have often been a Godsend. There have also been times that I had to walk a couple hours when nobody gave a lift.

So it comes down to The Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". I know that in an environment of rampant criminality it is difficult to fulfill this, but I would still want to uphold it as an ideal / goal.

Again, the original Good Samaritan (I keep hearing "him" referred to in the threads!) went to the trouble, risk, and expense and did all the good that he did in the context of a rather dangerous time and place. The story as originally told presumably made its impact and has posed its challenge to two millenia of hearers partly on that basis.

It is worth asking, however, why it is that things seem to have degraded as badly as they have in our present context, when per-capita income, economic opportunity, education, etc - all the claimed prerequisites for just and peaceful societies - have been steadily rising. Not to mention the proliferation of CCTV as a deterrent to crime.

When I first came to India, I heard a lot of people asserting that, "education is the answer". I used to reply that education had the power to make corrupt and criminal persons cleverer. I don't hear people telling me that so much these days, and a lot of the stories recounted here would seem to vindicate my suggestion.

-Eric

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ringoism

It is worth asking, however, why it is that things seem to have degraded as badly as they have in our present context, when per-capita income, economic opportunity, education, etc - all the claimed prerequisites for just and peaceful societies - have been steadily rising. Not to mention the proliferation of CCTV as a deterrent to crime.

When I first came to India, I heard a lot of people asserting that, "education is the answer". I used to reply that education had the power to make corrupt and criminal persons cleverer. I don't hear people telling me that so much these days, and a lot of the stories recounted here would seem to vindicate my suggestion.

-Eric

Fear is the best catalyst for a vicious cycle of mis-/partial information spread. A similar example is (fear of) terrorism in the US whereas the actual % of killed by terrorism is way way less than 1%.

When I tell my tale of giving a disabled hitch-hiker a lift, everyone gets shocked and tells me the horror stories they have heard and how lucky I was. No one remembers the amazing conversation I had with him during the drive and the gratitude I got from him, or of how he stood for nearly half a day waiting at the gas station before I gave him the lift.

Unfortunately that is the case here too. And posts like yours and mine in this thread will be far less influential on readers than the rest posts that talk about the actual/potential negative experiences recounted by others. It's not that people don't understand what we are saying, but the other views will hold stronger in their minds.

As for the state of the country wrt this area, while the # of negative cases would have definitely increased over the years, so would have the # of positive cases. But the former will have a longer range of visibility and recollection than the latter.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by ringoism

Everyone coming from the metros seems to have a valid negative tale to tell, and not all of them are recent.

Here in Manali things are still a bit better, I suppose. I pretty regularly give lifts to people - most often non-locals from God-knows-where - on the bike, my wife does the same in the car (with our kids aboard):

Things are better in mountains perhaps because the living counditions are difficult and people are forced to depend on others for their day to day lives. Unlike here in the plains where anything and everything is available at the click of a button.

Reminds me of an incident when we were driving from Tso Muriri to Leh. We were 4 guys in a fortuner and had stopped some place for lunch. As we were finishing our lunch, the restaurant owner/manager asked us where we were headed to and if we can drop someone to Leh. Individually we would have refused, but collectively we agreed, having strength in numbers and also because we were approached in a relatively safe environment, not in the open road. The passenger turned out to be a young ladakhi lady with her 2-year-old son, Tensen. The journey was uneventful the lady even offered to pay us when we reached Leh, which we politely refused. Even to this day, we get a smile on our faces when we talk about that day and the young Tensen.

The point I wanted to make is that, forget a lady, even I won't be comfortable accepting a lift from four strangers here in Bangalore. But the lady did that without any fear or discomfort.

[simeonovitch]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

When I tell my tale of giving a disabled hitch-hiker a lift, everyone gets shocked and tells me the horror stories they have heard and how lucky I was. [b]No one remembers the amazing conversation I had with him during the drive and the gratitude I got from him, or of how he stood for nearly half a day waiting at the gas station before I gave him the lift.

Reminded me of this beautiful short story by Jeffrey Archer
https://www.amazon.in/Wasted-Hour-Je.../dp/B075MBVCSG

[AirbusCapt]

I don't take lifts, nor give or offer lifts. Keep it simple, keep it safe.

[VKumar]

Being in the company of cops, officials and politicos, and the first ever thing I have learned is:
No one else is allowed in your private space

I have seen people happily taking lifts in the call center cabs too, but my case is rather clear. Either I will travel by my car, or will travel in a police jeep (Once we had an accident, had to abandon the car; I told cops to drop us to the nearby bus stop or stop a 'state transport' bus for us) or will take a state transport bus.

I am rather clear about it, I would prefer to stand roadside or travel in a shabby state transport bus. but I won't step in even if a Bentley stops in front of me and offers me a lift.

THE U TURN
Here we are talking about the ones asking for the lift, trust me guys; the ones who offer the lift are way more dangerous. You can find the cabbies with 2-3 people inside; offering the lifts/drop offs to people in midnight or deserted areas and they claim to do it for you at a nominal cost too. Well, ahem, I belong to the city which had this occurrence and it still happens there:
Serial Killer Gang Kills 300 in 3 Years - By giving lifts (Including 50 policemen)

And one from the millennium city 'Gurgaon':
Highway robbers who looted people after giving lifts

[ashwinprakas]

I distinctly recall the times I've given people lifts.

2013 - Chubby school kid, asked for a lift but I dropped him in front of his gate. The kid reminded me of me when I used to walk 8km's from boarding school to home wearing the exact same 'Friday Uniform'.

While I was riding I did recall of an incident where a student of the same school(my school) once asked for a lift and when the guy stopped, robbed him of his car by threatening him with a knife, the kid who held the knife at the time could not be more than 15 years of age. Hence I consider myself lucky being none the wiser.

2014 - The time was past midnight, about 2 or 3 am, I was riding through rural KA towards TN for the past 200 km's and had another 600 km's to go as I was trying to be adventurous, I was on my Bajaj Discover 100 4G and by this time I had ridden for about 75 km's in total darkness, not even a streetlight, this was a narrow stretch with little to no roads, I had to pee real bad and prayed for an opportunity to do so.

Just then I saw a bright light ahead and it was a high-mast light, there was one guy standing beneath it, though the area was lit by the light I didn't feel like peeing there in the presence of another person so just when I was about to get back on the motorcycle the guy walked up to me and asked me for a lift, I was about to decline when he told me that he missed his bus the previous day and was waiting under the light until the next bus comes which would not be here for at least 12~15 hours or more.

Against commonsense I decided to give the guy a lift but after riding for a bit I told him that I had to pee real bad and asked him to look over my stuff while I peed, since the Discover had AC lights the engine was left running.

Now at this point you'd think the bugger took my motorcycle and left me to fend for myself in total darkness, well, nope, he was there when I returned and I dropped him off about 75km's ahead where the next(his) village was, the guy was grateful to me and offered me a place to rest but I declined and resumed riding.

In hindsight, I could've been robbed, murdered or worse.

So in short, I seldom offer lifts, the kind of idiots that rob you are stupid to a fault, they won't think twice before stabbing you in the kidney while you're riding the motorcycle, this has literally happened if memory serves me right.

[IndigoXLGrandDi]

Earlier I had a habit of giving lifts to "Anyone asking for One".

I used to give lifts to School kids, College Students, Young-Old Men, Women, You name it. Irrespective of Time (Day, Night).

My intention was to help them. I did not take money from any of them even though some of them offered.

I used to narrate this to my wife after returning home. She used to give me nice earful. Then I dropped that habit as I was convinced that my Safety is more important than helping such Needy People.


Luckily, I did not have to face any unfortunate incident when I used to give lifts.

[motorpsycho]

I have 2 incidents to narrate,



My Cab drivers friend, used to charge by the seat, he had picked up 4 guys. Who later beat him up and stole his car and proceeded to Kolar to commit Murder, got caught. The Cab driver ended up as complicit, had to pay up to get out of it.



Second incident, Cab driver was asked for a lift from a lady infront of our office gate late night, lady was well dressed and had a badge around her neck, worried about her saftey he decided to give he a lift, only for her to pull a knife to his neck, asking him to drive to a certain point. The Cab driver panicked and stopped in the middle of road. His brother in law who was behind, pulled up to the car worried something had happened. Soon other cab drivers showed up, not sure what occured later.

[Ithaca]

Received an extremely disturbing video on whatsapp which shows how disastrous it is to give lift to strangers.

Date of incident 29.06.2019
Location seems like South America or Far East Asia.

In the video, a motorcyclist gives a lift to two strangers.
They take him to a desolate place and when he stops, the guy sitting behind him strangles him and pulls him off the bike while the third person runs around to find a rod / stick and returns to bash that chap. Then they attempt to rob him.
Leaving the poor chap helpless, they set off with his bike.
I could not find any links on YouTube.

This video once again reinforces that we should never ever give lifts to strangers.

Viewer discretion is advised since it is quite disturbing to watch.

[manchandap]

Hope it is fine to bump up an old thread, instead of starting a new one to share my thoughts and queries.

In an attempt to give back to the society and help others , I have given lifts to strangers. So, let me share incidents from two different part of the country that have changed my thought process (or have the potential to change):

• Around 2 decades back, I gave a lift to stranger at the Pul Palhadpur crossing on Badarpur-Mehurali road in Delhi. The gentleman was well dressed and had a suitcase, giving an aura of a traveler. Soon, after getting in the car, he started his story about being an army man and loosing money. He wanted me to help him with money. Being naive, I fell for his story initially. However, I got suspicious when he told me about his destination. Traveling towards Gurgaon would take him in opposite direction. The funny thing was that, I had only 20-30 rupees in my pocket that day. When I showed him my wallet, he got off at the next traffic light. This was the last time I gave lift to anyone in the city.
• I travel a lot to hinterlands of Himachal where availability of public transport is either negligible or zero. Having traveled to those parts using public transport I can understand the hardships people face. So, I am open to give lift to the people and have done it many times.
  • However, an incident few years back forces me to rethink about this. During my solo trip from Ladakh, I was stopped by police near Sundernagar. They did a thorough check of car, my luggage and my pockets. Probably, they were looking for some contraband stuff.

This incident has put me in a sort of dilemma: What if I give lift and that person leaves behind some contraband/illegal stuff and I am caught? This is on top of the legal issues and risk of getting robbed. (However, Himachal is a relatively safe state)

After that I have given lift twice to people twice whom I met at hotel.

My brain says not be adventurous while heart says help the needy.

I am still not sure whether I should go with my brain or heart . Any suggestions.