Isn't it crazy how all of our lives our parents have made attempts at stressing the fear we should have when approached by a stranger, especially the ones that want us to leave with them? Yet here we are, putting the utmost trust in strangers. Trusting that after we pay them and we leave our current location we will arrive safely at our desired destination. In this day and age, riding with strangers is a regularity that we have grown to love because of its convenience, but I'm sure our parents are still skeptical and they have every right to be.

Samantha Josephson, a twenty-one-year-old college student in South Carolina, followed a routine that I am sure many of us are all too familiar with. She had a night out, she needed a ride home, she called an Uber. Sadly, Samantha got into the wrong vehicle and she never made it home that night.

I'm sure that the thought of this potential tragedy occurrence has crossed our minds a time or two, but we always think, "this could never happen to me." Truth be told, as much as I wish it weren't true, it could happen to me just as quick as it could happen to you.

We need to start taking more precautions!

First things first, DO NOT travel alone.

Ask the driver to state who they're here for rather than saying "are you here for ____?" It would be so easy for someone who is NOT your driver to say yes and then drive away with you.

Anyone can easily purchase Uber or Lyft driver stickers to put on their vehicle even if they're not drivers for a company. That's when something as simple as checking the license plate number before you get in can come in handy.

Or just ditch the double-checking altogether!

Samantha Josephson made the mistake of getting into the wrong car because she was unfamiliar with the driver and what they were supposed to be arriving in. And that is completely understandable because that's just Uber. The point of the app isn't to make friends — it's to get a ride from point A to point B.

But with that being said it would be just as easy for one of us to make the same mistake.

In order to avoid this why not skip the Uber next time? Have a friend on standby rather than hopping into an unfamiliar car with an unfamiliar driver and just hoping you didn't make the same mistake that Samantha did.

This is a small change in your routine that would not only save you five bucks but may save you from a potentially fatal situation as well.