A college student got into a car she thought was her Uber and was found dead. Security expert Robert Siciliano says verify the driver's name and license plate, carry pepper spray or a tactical pen, and never ride alone at night. He notes there are roughly 859,000 registered sex offenders in the United States.
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We have a list of things that we can do, and I just want to start with how frightening a story this is for so many of us because we are now using— we're getting into cars with strangers all the time, something that we didn't do obviously decades ago. And so I have learned through this horrible tragedy that I have to always check the license plate now of the Uber that I'm getting into. Okay, now in South Carolina they don't have a front license plate, so That's a tough one. You'll have to walk around to the back of the car. I also find it too small, frankly, on the Uber app sometimes to see. But okay, what else do you recommend beyond checking the license plate?
Well, so there's a number of things to do, but it's really important to understand right here and now that this is not a rideshare issue. This is, this is not a rideshare problem. This is a predator problem. I don't think that Americans realize there are 859,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. 859,000. That's an average of 17,000, 18,000 per state, an average of 40 to 50 per town. These are living, breathing predators that live amongst us. There was an actual Uber driver in Boston that raped somebody just last week. So whether it's a rideshare or a non-rideshare, it's a predator problem, and people need to understand what their options are regarding self-defense and how to physically debilitate a bad guy in the unlikely event, 'cause it's unlikely, but when and if and when it does happen, you gotta know how to defend yourself.
Well, that's a really good point. Again, as I said, I mean, we're just getting into cars, whether it's taxis, Ubers, whatever, with strangers more than we used to. And so you recommend beyond doing all of your due diligence when you get into the car and checking the driver's name and checking the license plate, you recommend carrying a device. Can you show us what that is?
Well, you have options, you know. First of all, your brain is your best defense weapon. Knowing how to physically defend yourself is first. Second, if you're going to carry a device, pepper sprays can be pretty good, but you take— you should take definite training on that. And this right here is called a tactical pen. It's made of an aluminum alloy. It's designed— you can grip it and it can break glass also. Right here, that's a bad guy, okay? Right here, that's what you do to the bad guy. That's how you impale them. This goes right into their brain and it debilitates them to the point of no return. That's how you defend yourself. That's how you take down a bad guy. Otherwise, you end up as a victim. Prayers, thoughts and prayers, candlelight vigils don't solve problems like this. The only thing that solves the problem is changing the fraternity culture. We live in a society where it's okay, where a president says it's okay to grab a woman by her genitals. That is a problem. This is how you solve that.
Okay, I would like to believe that in a life and death situation, I could puncture somebody's skull with that pen that I would carry, but I think it would help if I had some training. And so what are you recommending that everybody do?
So there are a number of self-defense classes out there that you can take that teach you how to impale somebody, teach you how to break bones, teach you how to take care of yourself. And when you understand life-saving techniques like that, every other decision in life is relatively simple. It gives you an enormous amount of life-saving perspective. You can protect yourself and you can protect others. We live in a me too culture where violence has become normal. Almost 900,000 sex offenders. It needs to change right here and now from the top down.
I'm doing it. I'm going to call for a self-defense course. Honestly, I've been thinking about it for months, and so this is just a good way to light a fire. Um, you also say use the buddy system. So what does that mean, that after some point at night we shouldn't get into a car alone?
Look, soldiers on the battlefield, they don't leave men behind. They don't leave women behind. They Never ever separate. Look, the day that my daughters go out into the world and they're out there with their friends and they're at the bars, the rule is you do not leave anyone behind ever. You always stick together. There's always strength in numbers.
