Hitchhiking

A typical hitchhiker's gesture

Signals used by hitchhikers

Hitchhikers use a variety of signals to indicate they need a ride. Indicators can be physical gestures or displays including written signs.[3] The physical gestures, e.g., hand signals, hitchhikers use differ around the world:

• In some African countries, the hitchhiker's hand is held with the palm facing upwards.
• In most of Europe, North America, and the United Kingdom, most hitchhikers stand with their back facing the direction of travel. The hitchhiker typically extends their arm towards the road with the thumb of the closed hand pointing upward or in the direction of vehicle travel.
• In other parts of the world, such as Australia, it is more common to use the index finger to point at the road.

Signals used by drivers

In 1971, during the Vietnam War, drivers invented methods to communicate various messages to hitchhikers (frequently soldiers in those areas of the U.S. near military bases). To indicate to a hitchhiking soldier that their vehicles have no additional space to accommodate them, drivers could tap on the vehicle roof. Another common message that drivers could signal to hitchhikers—who usually sought to travel long distances, distances too far to walk in a reasonable amount of time—was that the driver's destinations were located nearby—and of little use to the hitchhiker—by pointing at the ground for a few seconds.

Two of the signs used in the United States, forbidding hitchhiking

Hitchhiking is a historically common (autonomous) practice worldwide and hence there are very few places in the world where laws exist to restrict it. However, a minority of countries have laws that restrict hitchhiking at certain locations.[4] In the United States, for example, some local governments have laws outlawing hitchhiking, on the basis of drivers' and hitchhikers' safety. In 1946, New Jersey arrested and imprisoned a hitchhiker, leading to intervention by the American Civil Liberties Union.[5] In Canada, several highways have restrictions on hitchhiking, particularly in British Columbia and the 400-series highways in Ontario. In all countries in Europe, it is legal to hitchhike and in some places even encouraged. However, worldwide, even where hitchhiking is permitted, laws forbid hitchhiking where pedestrians are banned, such as the Autobahn (Germany), Autostrade (Italy), motorways (United Kingdom and continental Europe) or interstate highways (United States), although hitchhikers often obtain rides at entrances and truck stops where it is legal at least throughout Europe [6][7] with the exception of Italy.[8]

In 2011, Freakonomics Radio reviewed sparse data about hitchhiking, and identified a decline in hitchhiking in the US since the 1970s, which it attributed to a number of factors, including lower air travel costs due to deregulation, the presence of more money in the economy to pay for travel, more numerous and more reliable cars, and a lack of trust of strangers.[9] Fear of hitchhiking is thought to have been spurred by movies such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and a few real stories of imperiled passengers, notably the kidnapping of Colleen Stan in California.[9] See § Safety, below.

Julian Portis points out[10] that the rise of faster highways, such as freeways, motorways, and expressways, has made hitchhiking more difficult. He adds:

The real danger of hitchhiking has most likely remained relatively constant, but the general perception of this danger has increased. ... [O]ur national tolerance for danger has gone down: things that we previously saw as reasonably safe suddenly appeared imminently threatening. This trend is not just isolated to the world of hitchhiking; it has become a pernicious artifact throughout the American cultural conscience.

Some British researchers discuss reasons for hitchhiking's decline in the UK, and possible means of reviving it in safer and more-organized forms.[11]

In recent years, hitchhikers have started efforts to strengthen their community. Examples include the annual Hitchgathering, an event organized by hitchhikers, for hitchhikers, and websites such as hitchwiki and hitchbase, which are platforms for hitchhikers to share tips and provide a way of looking up good hitchhiking spots around the world.

Wikivoyage has some tips for safe hitchhiking.

Limited data is available regarding the safety of hitchhiking.[12] Compiling good safety data requires counting hitchhikers, counting rides, and counting problems: a difficult task.[13]

Two studies on the topic include a 1974 California Highway Patrol study and a 1989 German federal police study.[12] The California study found that hitchhikers were not disproportionately likely to be victims of crime.[14] The German study concluded that the actual risk is much lower than the publicly-perceived risk; the authors did not advise against hitchhiking in general.[15] They found that in some cases there were verbal disputes or inappropriate comments, but physical attacks were very rare.[16]

Recommended safety practices include:[17]

• Asking for rides at gas stations instead of signaling at the roadside
• Refusing rides from impaired drivers
• Hitchhiking during daylight hours
• Trusting one's instincts
• Traveling with another hitchhiker; this measure decreases the likelihood of harm by a factor of six[18]

Two WPA workers hitchhiking in California, circa 1939

Numerous victims on the Highway of Tears disappeared while hitchhiking. Notable individual hitchhikers include:

• Joe Bennett – New Zealand newspaper columnist and author; hitchhiked around the world for 10 years[29]
• André Brugiroux – from France; hitchhiked all around the world for 18 years, from 1955 to 1973
• David Choe – painter, muralist, graffiti artist and graphic novelist, spent two years hitchhiking
• Martin Clark and Graham Beynon – last hitchhikers recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the Land's End to John O'Groats trip (17 hours 8 minutes)
• W. H. Davies – Welsh poet and tramp, who hitchhiked America during the early 20th century
• hitchBOT – Canadian hitchhiking robot[30]
• Sascha Grabow – from Germany; hitchhiked in all but three of the world's 193 countries
• Ludovic Hubler – French hitchhiker who toured the world entirely by hitchhiking from 1 January 2003 to 1 January 2008, and wrote Le Monde en stop about his experiences
• Ilmar Island (Saar) – the last and only hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for hitching between Key West, Florida and Fairbanks, Alaska (5 days, 20 hours and 52 minutes); the category only appeared once.[31]
• Jack Kerouac – Beat Generation author who hitchhiked in America and wrote many books about his experience
• Chris McCandless – subject of the book Into the Wild and related films; hitchhiked throughout the western region of North America in the early 1990s
• Robert Prins – last hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the 24-hour hitchhiking record (2,318.4 km)[32]
• Stephan Schlei – from Ratingen, Germany; hitchhiked more than 621,371 mi (1,000,000 km); the Guinness Book of Records, before all hitchhiking records were removed, once said that he was the World's No. 1 Hitchhiker[33]
• Devon Smith – listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for most cumulative miles hitchhiked (1973 to 1985), over 290,988 mi (468,300 km); held the record for hitchhiking all 48 contiguous US states in 33 days during 1957[34]
• Colleen Stan, who was kidnapped by Cameron and Janice Hooker, and tortured and abused for seven years before Janice helped her escape.[35]
• Andrzej Stasiuk – writer, journalist and literary critic[36]
• John Waters – filmmaker, writer, actor and artist; author of Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America[37]
• Nedd Willard – writer, artist and journalist

• Hitchhiker – a hitchhiking lunatic killer played by actor Edwin Neal in the original film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
• Alan Parker, in Stephen King's horror novella, Riding the Bullet (2000)
• Phineas, Ezra and Gus – the Hitchhiking Ghosts considered the mascots of the Haunted Mansion attraction, who also appear in other media, such as Disney's House of Mouse, The Haunted Mansion movie, and official merchandise
• Ford Prefect – a space-hitchhiking travel writer in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
• The hitchhiker, in Stephen King's short story, "Mute" (2012)
• The Hitcher – a green cockney man who was featured in The Mighty Boosh
• Cissy Hankshaw - a young hitchhiker with special outsized thumbs, from Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins

• Carpool
• Flexible carpooling – hitchhiking formalized via designated meeting points
• Freighthopping
• Hitchwiki
• Real-time ridesharing – hitchhiking facilitated by a smartphone application
• Slugging – hitchhiking motivated by HOV lanes in several urban areas

Notes

Bibliography

• Nwanna, Gladson I. (2004). Americans Traveling Abroad: What You Should Know Before You Go, Frontier Publishers, ISBN 1890605107.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hitchhiking.

• The dictionary definition of hitchhike at Wiktionary
• Tips for hitchhiking travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Hitchhiking around the world travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Hitchhiking phrasebook travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Hitchhiking at Curlie