Don't assume that other people understand that once you hook a winch to them they stay hooked up.

I ran into a kid stuck down a snowy road 50 feet from pavement. He had been digging for a while and was eager to get out before someone spotted him I guess. I hooked up to him and pulled him back to the road. I'm about to get out and unhook him when he decides that he has traction now and takes off down the road, still tied to my winch, with me honking and hollering trying to get him to stop. At least I was able to get the Jeep out of park and into neutral before he hit the end of the cable.

I now have a little more discussion with folks before I pull cable.