I gave a guy on the side of the road a ride once. As soon as he got in, I smelled the alcohol. He was drunk. He didn’t want to get out for two stops. Came to a gas station, he wanted a beer. I let him out. He went in thinking I would wait for him. I tossed his stuff out and left. Never giving anyone a ride again.
I have been lucky. I have picked up a bunch of people and never got a bad one. Some were interesting, some were sad, but all of ‘em were decent.
Worst one was when I picked up two girls at twilight. they had no business walking on the side of the road at that time. Got them back to the family, but everybody was telling me all the problems I could have let myself in for.
I am married now, so my tolerance for risk has dropped dramatically, but the last time I picked up someone, he was limping along the road trying to get home - he tried to flag someone down and had his foot run over; he’d be walking all night. I had made a wrong turn and gone a ways when I saw him - it was like someone wanted me to pick him up.