Does hitchiking really work?
 

I was driving home from classes and on the side of the road was a hitchhiker. Granted, I didn't stop and pick him up, but I was wondering if this mode of travel really works. It seems he got dropped off there, it is kind of near a exit noone exits at, so I figured he just got dropped and was looking for another one. I can't imagine anyone picking this guy up, so I started thinking.

So have you ever hitchiked? Would you ever pick up a stranger and give him/her a lift?

Does it really work?

in Iceland it's a common thing to do....

in the US however... not so much... i used to pick up hitchhikers... not anymore...

It was the thing to do a fe decades ago in the US.

Yeah, maybe a long time ago, but not anymore.

I walked 10 or so miles home trying to hitchike after I locked my keys in the car at the fishing hole. So my experience the one time I tried is NO it does not work.

Never tried to hitchike myself. And no i wouldn't pick up a hitchiker with all the crime and what not. I just wouldn't take the chance, you know.

I've hitchhiked and I will occasionally pick up a hitchhiker because I know what it's like to be without a vehicle and need to get somewhere and how much Hitching sucks.

And you never know, the person hitchhiking could have a car broken down and he's trying to get to a phone or gas station.

I would pick up a female hitch hiker.... No im not a sick bastard, but Ive heard to many stories of girls who ran away from home, and got picked up by sickos. Id do what I could to prevent that.

I have hitched a few rides and i have never had to wait more than 30 minutes for a ride, but that is in the wonderful midwest where you can sit in the back of the truck

Normally I don't pick up hitch hikers. Actually, I've never picked up a hitchhiker. If I see a car with it's hazards on, and someone outside the car trying to wave down traffic then unless I'm stuck in high-speed traffic and slowing down would likely cause an accident I will stop (unless I'm on my way to work/school and appointment). I'll offer any help (used to have a set of tools in my car, plus a gas container), I'll take them to a gas station, let them use my cell phone (if service is available), or anything I can possibly do to help.

I've been stuck on the side of the road with no sign of help in sight too many times to not offer people in similar situations help if I can.

never tried hitch-hiking.. too afraid of being picked up by big scary truck drivers.. :(

I most likely wouldn't stop. I know for a fact that during the 70's many a person could easily hitch hike across america. Now a days its just a different climate and feeling towards them. Granted I also know what it feels like being on teh side of the road with a broken down car so I would probably stop. Bottom line though, is I am too paranoid :)

I think it really depends on where you're at...
I hitched once, when my car was broken down, between Tacoma and Seattle.. the guy gave me a ride a couple exits up so I could use a payphone..
my roomate recently hitched from Portland to Seattle (3 hour drive), on two legs of it, returning from BurningMan... not too shabby..
my other roomate is attempting to hitch from Seattle to Idaho to northern California, then up through Oregon back to Seattle.. though he's prepared to bus alot...

well ive never hitchiked...

but my dad did quite a bit when he was in highschool/college... mostly around the sierras and yosemite area...

my dad and i picked up some guys that were going to tuolome meadows from yosemite... and my dad told em all about the climbs and hitching he had done around yosemite...

My brother and I used to hitch in the late 70s early 80s, going to and from the lake during the Summertime.
We pretty much made sure to catch rides with people in pickup trucks so we could ride in the back.
When it was still legal to ride back there, that is.

My dad was going to T.S.T.I. in Waco, getting a degree, and his Toyota broke down, so he hitched for a while at that time. (heh, then he bought a tenspeed) :rolleyes:

This was in the mid 70s, though, when it wasn't so dangerous to hitch like it is now.

You try it now, you better carry something, and if you pick up, be wary of what they're carrying. Hell, let's arm everybody. :p

I might, if they didn't look like the type that would slit my throat and take my wallet ..

IE: Probably not ;)

works for serial killers.


or so I've heard.

I might add that it works better if you carry a flat spare tire with you instead of a backpack.

In Cuba, depending on the licensing your car has .. you _must_ stop for hitch-hikers. It's a GREAT method of transportation there.

My dad hitched all the time when he was in the Navy in the 60's. When I was I kid in the 70's he would pick them up when we were driving. I would not hitch now, nor would I pick up a hitch hiker. Too dangerous. I'll stop and help you out if your car is broken down (still dangerous), but I would be leery of giving you a ride.

Ive picked up hitch-hikers in the past if they didnt look too skeevy but most of the time im either in a hurry or they look too dirty and smelly for me to want to ride with them. And of course theres also the "Id like to help but you look like youll probably rob and kill me" factor.

I knew a guy who got from Florida to northern Georgia, and had to take a bus back to Florida.

So, no. It doesn't work and Train hopping is too dangerous.

ever see "There's Something About Mary" ?????

Seems to me that it is one of those things, in the states, that has been left in the past. There was no big deal about hitching back in the 70's and maybe even 80's , but I don't think it is very hip, safe or reliable these days. Is that really so bad?

Hitching is pretty bogus. Tell me, you can't wash dishes for a week or two to SOMEHOW rake 2 bits together for a bus fare?!?!? These days there are two words that fairly accurately describes a hitchhiker "HO" "BO"..


HA!

Not one of my favorite things, BUT, I've done it alot in my younger, it works, always tip, and i always took a blade with me.

I have a friend that did once.... picked up a hitchhiker that is... the guy turned out to be pretty scary, and completely insane. So, based on his experience, I think I'm less likely to do it now.

It worked great 30 years ago, in the US and europe.

I hitch hiked from Tacoma WA, around the Olympic peninsula and back in the late 80's, as a matter offact I hitch hiked everywhere I went during that period....good times for the most part, but there were a couple odd experiences too.

Everytime i drive by a bus stop with only one lonely old lady standing in the rain with shopping bags or something, it makes me itch to pick them up. Unfourtunately, as the car is not mine...this is forbidden.

I picked up a hitchhiker once. Never again.

When my first daughter was born in 1953, I hitch hiked the 20 miles from the hospital to home---had to--car was down and no job...

then this week---this guy picks up two 14 year olds coming home from a foot ball game....he droped the first one off and headed for the boonys with the second one....bad mistake----she bailed and reported him to the cops---they found him at the hospital with two pocket knife wounds to his right side....ya gota love that little girl...

Was pretty common back in the '60s and early '70s. When driving down University Avenue in Berkeley toward the freeway back in those days, I almost always saw a line of 10 to 20 hitchers on the sidewalk just before the northbound onramp to I-80, all of them young and downy-cheeked. That didn't last. Hitchers are rare in the college town I live in now, and those that you see tend to be disheveled, bearded gentlemen with very large backpacks.

I never hitch-hiked, myself. Always had a car or busfare or a friend. Also had an experience at a very young age, 12 or so, in which some older teenage boys I didn't know offered me a lift and then tried to pressure me to get into their car when I refused. After that, never felt that getting into a strange car was a good idea.

I've picked up hitchhikers a couple of times, and they were always a little weird. ALWAYS. But they were friendly, so I'll do it again.

I too, live in the Midwest, though. Somehow, I figure that is relevant.

Fairly common here, especially with tourists. I've hitched shortish distances a few times myself, and only once had to wait long for a ride. I don't have a car, but if I did, I'd always pick up hitchers when possible. I'd probably be more careful if I lived in the States though.

I've picked up a few over the years. If I have a 9 or 10 hour drive the company can be good. I should say that it depends on the area and the person. It seems that almost everyone hitchhikes in some of the smaller towns in this province.
When I was a kid, my mom used to drop my friends and I at the bottom of the road to the local ski hill. We would have a ride in no time to the top of the hill. I probably did that about forty times over the years.

it's sad that today we live in such a world that it's really not a good idea to be the good samaritan & pick up ppl who just need a lift somewhere. it's just not safe or smart, because you can't judge a book by it's cover most times.

i have hitch hiked once ever. mid 90s. and i only flagged down the guy cuz he lived in my neighborhood & i'd heard of him. he worked for a living as clown. & yes, he was in costume when he picked me up.

i will never hitch a ride again. i have never given a ride to a stranger & i don't think i ever will unless it's some scenario that i feel absolutely sure it's not weirdos.

Am I the only one that thought "John Wayne Gacy" when you read that? ;)

Sorry, bernadette. Not trying to make fun of you. :)

hahaha Freman. no offense taken.

now i see i typoed. it was the mid-<i>eighties</i>, not the mid-90s.
at that point in time i had not heard of Gacy... otherwise, i probably would've opted to continue walking & be late for where i was going. o.m.g.

I used to hitchhike lots. I didn't have a car and I lived in an area that did not have bus service. Unless I wanted to ride my bike 40 km to the next town I was hitchin'. It works great. You get to meet lots of nice people (and some scum too). Some hints: try not to look like scum, Do not walk and hitch as it makes it look like you are going a short distance (short enough to walk), pisvk a spot with a good pullout where traffic is going slow and stand there, do not finger the people who pass you by, do not stand near a passing lane, don't wear sunglasses, make eye contact with each driver.

Yes, I pick up hitchhikers. It would be hypocritical of me not to. I don't pick up all hitchhikers however, some I have picked up are annoying so I pass them by.

I don't feel unsafe picking up hitchers. If one of them tried some shit I would crash my car (hitchres generally don't use seatbelts). Pretty hard to hurt me if you are on the on the ground having just passed through my windshield.

That sounds interesting care to share some details?