Short answer
In a parking lot or on a low-speed street, stopping to help is usually fine: park where you are visible and offer a jump or a push. On a highway shoulder, do not stop. Call 911 or the state patrol so trained responders with warning lights arrive. In deep cold, getting someone warm matters more than fixing the car.
The facts, in one place
- Lots and low-speed streets: helping directly is reasonable.
- Highway shoulders: call it in, do not stop.
- In deep cold, warmth beats mechanics every time.
- Never leave someone stranded without confirming help is coming.
The parking lot version
Pull in where you are visible, leave room, and ask before doing anything. Most of the time the answer is cables and ten minutes. If the person seems disoriented, very cold, or unwell, that is a 911 call, not a mechanical problem.
The highway version
Do not stop on the shoulder of I-94 or I-29. Adding a second stationary vehicle to a fast, possibly icy road is how a bad situation becomes a crash. Call it in with a mile marker and a direction. Dispatchers can send people with lights, training, and a legal right to be there.
Cold changes the priority
At subzero temperatures the car is not the emergency. The person is. If someone has been outside a while, getting them somewhere warm comes first, and the vehicle can wait for a tow. Do the part you are competent to do, and do not move an injured person. This site does not give legal advice. Helpers can apply to be reviewed by our team. Help Me does not run background checks.
Help Me is not an emergency service. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number.
Questions people actually ask
This site does not give legal advice. Practically: do what you are competent to do, do not move an injured person, and call 911 when it is more than a favor.
That is a personal call, and not something Help Me arranges. Help Me does not arrange transportation, and no request should be for it.
Call 911 and describe what you see. Dispatchers would rather get a call that turns out to be minor.
Keep going
- HelpingBe the one who says yesApply in the app, submit identity evidence, and get reviewed by our team before you can see or accept requests in Fargo-Moorhead. Say yes when it suits you.
- seasonA blizzard is the one day to close the appWhen travel is not advised, the right answer is not an app. What a blizzard closes, who to call, and the small help that still makes sense at home.
- seasonThirty below changes the mathAt thirty below, cars fail together and exposure is measured in minutes. What neighbors can help with, and when a warming center or 911 is the answer.
- The small stuffA jump start, from someone nearbyAsk a neighbor with jumper cables in Fargo, West Fargo, or Moorhead. Busy public lots, both people outside the car. Not a mechanic, a tow, or 911.
- Not 911Help Me is not an emergency serviceHelp Me is for small favors in Fargo-Moorhead. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. Here is how to tell the difference.
- emergencyEmergencies: 911, then the right local deskCall 911 in Fargo, West Fargo, Moorhead, and Dilworth. Campus police and 211 are next. Help Me is not emergency response.
Help Me is a community app for adults in Fargo–Moorhead. It is not a K–12 student program, not a youth chat, and not campus police.