
The End of the Open Road: How Hitchhiking Died - Thevet
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/theslice/end-of-the-open-road-inside-story-of-how-hitchhiking-died
======
ufmace
I don't have much to say on hitchhiking itself, but it strikes me as another
manifestation of the climate of fear we have in the US these days - violent
crime of all sorts is way down, but we act far more afraid than we did even
when it was much higher. To the point that our paranoia hurts us more than the
crime did.

Even worse is how it can be self-perpetuating in situations like this -
because hitching is so stigmatized, much fewer normal people are doing it on
both sides, making the chances of getting somebody crazy higher.

~~~
herbig
Freakonomics did a great podcast about this a few years ago as well:

[http://freakonomics.com/2011/10/10/where-have-all-the-
hitchh...](http://freakonomics.com/2011/10/10/where-have-all-the-hitchhikers-
gone-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/)

------
vonnik
I hitchhiked up and down the west coast and Mexico in the 1990s, after hitch-
hiking had already been vilified in the media. For a large, white male like
myself, it was relatively safe, because most of the danger in hitch-hiking
encounters actually flows from the hiker to the driver. So if you are the
hiker, and you know you're safe, then a lot of the risk has been removed. (For
female hitch-hikers, it's another story.)

There were several periods when hitchhiking was widely accepted, and they
usually coincided with large groups of otherwise respectable people having to
hit the road. The Depression was one of those times. Post-war periods, when
soldiers are returning home, have been others.

These days car ownership is so common that you have to be young and crazy,
desperately poor, or criminal to hitch hike, and drivers know that.

It's still surprising how many drivers will pick you up. There's a lot of
lonely people looking for conversation on the road.

~~~
grecy
> _These days ...you have to be young and crazy, desperately poor, or criminal
> to hitch hike, and drivers know that._

That depends entirely where you live. Move to a ski or rock climbing town and
you'll find hundreds of people hitching every day.

I did it for years, and now I have a car, I pickup everyone I see.

~~~
dnr
I think the original article is talking about more long-distance hitchhiking.
The sort of localized things like getting a ride from an Appalachian Trail
trailhead into town, or a lift back up Teton Pass, or into LCC (all of which
I've received and given), are a slightly different phenomena. It's pretty easy
to recognize a thru-hiker or skier just from their equipment and clothing, and
of course destination, and that removes a lot of the risk.

~~~
grecy
True, though as anecdotal counter-evidence I will say I picked up quite a few
hitchhikers while driving Alaska->Argentina, some of which stuck with me
across multiple states and countries!

One almost swapped continents with me :)

------
grellas
Hitchhiking died because the car culture died.

From the 1950s and into the 1960s, cars were _the_ thing. They were an
_adventure_. You were some moronic kid with nothing exciting to do and, all of
a sudden, you had freedom - you could kiss the parents good-bye and hightail
it out to have some fun. V8 engines, lots of power waiting to be unleashed,
booze in the back seat, a girlfriend or boyfriend to play with, no seatbelts,
lots of cigaretts, drive-ins to go to, streets to cruise, etc., etc.

That world is gone now. Of course, any of its elements can be re-created. All
the pieces are still there. But the spirit of the thing is gone. Cool people
don't waste their time on Saturday nights driving around to impress people
with how hot their muscle car is (though they probably do equally silly things
as a substitute).

Hitchhiking in its fad sense - i.e., when "everybody" was doing it - was part
and parcel of that culture. As noted in this piece, it was probably even more
likely that something bad might happen to you back then than it is now for
driving around with strangers. So why did vastly greater numbers of people
hitchhike back than they do now. For the simple reason that it was regarded as
"cool" to do so. Just like it was "cool" to smoke. And just as times have
changed for the latter, so they have for the former.

Of course there is some unavoidable risk when you hitchhike or when you pick
up hitchhikers. Out of millions of people in America, there are some who
inevitably will be predators and who will take advantage of others. The
overwhelming majority obviously don't. The risk lies in not knowing whether
you will bump into the bizarre exception to the normal rule of human kindness
in such situations.

But that risk, together with the alarmist publicity and paternalistic laws
that can accompany it, have little to do with why far fewer people are
hitchhiking now than they did back in the day. People are strongly affected by
their peers and by what they are doing. Then they tend to do the same. In that
older era, there was a huge social push to get out on the road in all sorts of
ways and hitchhiking took wing as a direct result of that push. Now that is
gone. There is no strong peer influence pushing people in that direction.
There is nothing cool or adventuresome in the car culture, at least not for
many.

And so hitchhiking, at least in America, is left for those who do it out of
necessity and for the remaining few who truly enjoy interacting with
strangers. For most people, it is a brush-off item that they would never
consider. After all, "nobody is doing it."

~~~
JoeAltmaier
But the article mentioned hitchhiking guides as far back as the 1920's. Not
just the 50's and 60's. Perhaps we all want to think our generation owned
something. But that doesn't seem to fit the history.

Anyway, nobody leaves their house any more, not to drive, not to sit on the
porch, not to hike in the hills. Well, somebody will say "But I do!" and
that's fine. But the massed millions don't. They go to the mall and fool with
their phones.

------
jonstokes
My high school algebra teacher was a really great guy, a former boxer who felt
it was his Christian duty (I think he was a Jehovah's Witness) to pick up
hitchhikers. His family always tried to talk him out of it, but he persisted
under the theory that God would protect him. One day, we showed up in class to
find a substitute teacher telling us that he had been killed by one of the
hitchhikers he picked up. True story. That's a data set of size one, but
still, I'd never pick up a hitchhiker.

Edit: Heh, Google... here's a doc for the murder trial:
[http://www.leagle.com/decision/19951341658So2d683_11297.xml/...](http://www.leagle.com/decision/19951341658So2d683_11297.xml/STATE%20v.%20CROSS)

~~~
Theodores
Well, here is a sample size of two. As young adults my sister and myself used
to frequently hitch hike on the exact same roads that noted serial killer Fred
West used to pick up hitch hikers. We would be hitch hiking independently or
with friends, yet not once were we brutally murdered.

Really this hitch hiking thing is like a social network that has gone wrong,
to no longer have 'network effects'.

------
narag
Last time I hitchhiked, the driver was the Spain public enemy no.1. Escaped
from jail a few days before, using that soap pistol trick, is still on the
run, more than 30 years after.

[https://www.google.es/search?q=rafael+bueno+latorre](https://www.google.es/search?q=rafael+bueno+latorre)

Uh, never more.

~~~
GauntletWizard
But now you've got a great story to tell! Think of how many more you could
get.

~~~
narag
I already had many great stories to tell, both about hitchhiking and about
other things. Not sure why, I was like a magnet for that kind of strange
happennings. But I don't like fear, not at that particular level :-)

------
branchless
I hitchhiked down the east coast of Australia. I had about 6 rides. In at
least 4 of them the driver was drinking. I had beers in each so they wouldn't
have them. In one car the guy in the passenger seat wasn't driving because he
was banned (for drink driving) yet both he and the driver were drinking cans
of rum and coke. They'd drink a can, scrunch it and then lop it out the open
window before cracking open another. In another truck the guy was having beers
whilst driving pulling another car.

In one car the guy said he was stopping for a pee. We pulled off the road,
down another road, down another, into a wood. He then stopped the car. I was
worried. He got out, too a pee and then off we went again.

Everyone was very nice and we all had fun.

~~~
Estragon
Was this before or after the arrest of Ivan Milat?

~~~
tajen
Cultural point: Ivan Milat was a serial killer in NSW, the state of Syndey,
Australia, in the 90'. He certainly inspired the movie "Wolf Creek", a famous
horror movie among backpackers, since it depicts carpooling in the outback
with other sane youngsters and getting savagely murdered. The movie is
introduced like a documentary, with scary statistics at the beginning, the
"based on a true story" at the end, and is very effective at deterring
backpackers from doing anything risky in Australia. I would even recommend NOT
watching it before a gap year in Australia, or it will kill the adventure.

[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Milat_(serial_killer)](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Milat_\(serial_killer\))
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Creek_(film)](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Creek_\(film\))

My experience with travelling in the outback is that everyone is well-
intentionned, but after a few days on the road in closed circle, tensions
arise. Far from the civilization, under the benefit of not being seen by the
rest of the world, discussions sometimes heat up and end up as a fight. It's
good to be able to walk away as early as possible, like no more than 24hrs
after the first tensions. A friend of mine stabbed a redneck who didn't want
to let go of his girlfriend; I've had a fight with someone who didn't like my
political opinions (he was extreme right) and who practised judo. Just
remember to walk away as early as possible... and hitchhiking in case of
emergency is a very good way out.

------
codingdave
I still see a few hitchhikers a week in my town, mostly heading away from the
interstate, deeper into the mountains. When I was living in Leadville, CO, it
was still common - you would frequently find folks just standing at the edge
of town, looking for a ride down into the other mountain towns, and likewise,
just off the I-80 ar Copper Mountain, looking for a ride back to Leadville.
For better or worse, they always seemed to want me to drop them off at the
liquor store, and that was usually the root cause for hitching - lost their
licenses.

I guess my point is that in small mountains towns in the west, we have not yet
received the memo that we should not be doing this.

~~~
CPLX
It's been about 20 years since I lived in Colorado, but it was very common
when I was in college, not only along the mountain/ski routes but even along
the front range. I remember hitching from Colorado Springs to Ft. Collins and
back multiple times.

------
beatpanda
I hitchhiked from California to Washington, D.C. and back last year and I
highly reccomend it. The longest I ever waited for a ride was 90 minutes. My
female partner and I parted ways halfway through the trip and we both
successfully hitched alone with no hint of danger.

~~~
Estragon
My wife picked up a couple of hitchhikers while driving from Ohio to Central
NY last year. She had a good time with them.

------
chrismartin
Not representative of everywhere, but I hitched (solicited and obtained rides
from complete strangers using my thumb) over 27 times last year while thru-
hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to central Oregon. Sometimes alone,
sometimes in a small group. You encounter a highway after 2-6 days of walking,
hitch into town to rest and resupply, then hitch back out to the trail.

I never waited more than an hour, and we usually got picked up in just a few
minutes.

Most of them felt like a mutually beneficial exchange. We got a ride, and
typically advice of where to stay/eat in town; the driver got to be a little
part of a big adventure. Some drivers insisted on detouring to drop us off at
the grocery/motel/WWII Japanese internment camp. I can't recall any situations
that felt dangerous, though pick-up truck drivers were happy to let us ride in
the bed, which is a significant fine for the driver if caught by law
enforcement in California.

------
hurin
It's just a ridiculous culture of fear and distrust of others.

~~~
sliverstorm
Is the wisdom of not leaving your things alone in a cafe unattended also a
ridiculous culture of fear & distrust?

I hitch & pick up some hitchhikers (except the ones who haven't showered in
years), but it seems a simple matter of fact that hitchhiking makes you more
vulnerable on both sides of the deal. I don't think it's wrong to consider the
risks.

Also if we are to compare statistics, the article puts forward 0.04 murders
per day related to hitchhiking in California. Ok, well there's 7.7 traffic
fatalities per day in California. But how many people drive on the road each
day, vs. how many people hitchhike?

If there were 1 million cars on the road in California each day, there would
have to be 5,200 hitchhikers each day for "risk parity" for the two
activities. That is, choosing to drive your car or choosing to hitchhike would
be equally risky. If there are less hitchhikers per day than that, it is more
dangerous than driving- if there are more, it is less dangerous than driving.

The point being that while hitchhiking is not the nation's biggest source of
violence, the risk is not as small as the article tries to paint.

~~~
hurin
Did you actually read the article they are using as a reference for the 0.04
figure?
[http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/april/highwayserial_040...](http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/april/highwayserial_040609)

~~~
sliverstorm
I do not typically read all the references in addition to the article. Re-
reading the original article, I don't know why I thought the 0.04 number was a
California number.

Still, rate per capita is useful for identifying "what are our top problems"
but potentially very misleading for evaluating "how risky is this activity I
am thinking about engaging in"

------
stegosaurus
I hitched a few thousand miles recently across Europe.

As far as I can tell it's just a misunderstanding of statistics and extreme
risk aversion that reduces numbers.

This idea that it's more or less dangerous than some other activity just
doesn't jibe with me. Life isn't about going to the gym with muesli and green
beans and avoiding scary information and so on. It is precious precisely
because we have freedom.

On the idea of public transport replacing hitching - that's a completely
different experience. It's commercial. You deal with ticket inspectors
assuming you are a thief, barriers, overcrowding, limited routes, high cost
(the entire point of hitching is having an extended/permanent trip on a
budget). Etc.

Self driving cars may well kill it off entirely. And we will have lost
something great - one of the few areas of life untouched by capitalism.

------
giltleaf
Hitching is way more common in Chile. People actually wait at toll booths to
hop on buses or cars - sometimes with big baskets of donuts to sell. Despite
what the article says, the only time I've hitched in the US was in a national
park after rain unexpectedly started slamming down.

------
gprano_
I hitchhiked over 30,000km in the last few years in many countries of Europe
and Asia. I would claim that people have usually gross misconceptions of the
risks. It is of course very dependent of who and where you are and which
techniques you use, but I would say that the risks involved are on par or
rather much less than traffic accidents. Western Europe countries tend to be
slightly harder because the people are more afraid, and as I'm kind of sick of
these societies rooted in fear I don't think I would want to go to the US.
Besides, at least in Europe and Asia, hitchhiking works everywhere if you know
how to do it, and it's a more fulfilling way of travelling than anything else
I've done.

~~~
contingencies
_it 's a more fulfilling way of travelling than anything else I've done._

I'd recommend long distance cycle touring. Obviously you have to be a bit more
self-reliant, and it doesn't exactly scream "socialise" but you wind up
spending time in areas you otherwise wouldn't, where people are super
friendly, and truly experiencing the geography and fauna along the route in a
way that automotive transport can never match.

------
chaostheory
I thought we called it ridesharing these days

------
mathattack
My dad used to hitchhike across country. It was very common for people in the
military, and the uniform served them well.

I used to hitchhike in college, but it was mostly asking for rides across town
in the back of a pickup truck.

------
kerny
I've hitchhiked around 1000 miles in Europe without any problems. I love the
experience of meeting, chatting and sharing stories with complete strangers.
Most of hitchhiking riders used to hitchhike themselves, so they have a lot of
stories to tell, and it's easy way to find out about local culture.

When I've been on a trip to western Ukraine 3 years ago, I picked up a female
teacher, which was commuting to her school by hitchhiking every day. Strange
that it's easier to hitchhike in poorer rather than richer country.

------
jff
I hitched across Maui once. I got a guy in a nice car & suit who was almost
certainly high on coke (he was coke-chatty), a really nice local guy hauling
glass to a construction site, a guy in an old van who had a lot to say about
Jesus, and a dude drinking beers in his jeep (I accidentally broke the door
latch on it, oops). Never spent more than about 10 minutes waiting for a ride,
but 3/4 drivers sketched me out.

Still a fun experience.

------
weeksie
I don't think it's a coincidence that hitchhiking became vilified at the peak
of the mid century crimewave. It well and truly _was_ more dangerous then.
Now, even though the crimewave has subsided, people have scare stories from
infotainment journalism and they overestimate the risk, thanks to the
availability heuristic.

------
mercer
One thing that might have impacted hitchhiking in Europe is cheap flights. If
you can get somewhere in a few hours for less than 100 euro, or hitchhike
there in a few days, you must really like hitchhiking or be really poor.

Before the cheap flights, I went hitchhiking not just for fun, but because it
was so much cheaper too.

------
eonw
i used to read a forum that was about hitchhiking and train riding
experiences. Ive hitchhiked a few times, never across great distances
though... would still love to hitch a train cross country though.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
Train riding is considerably more likely to kill you than hitchhiking. Things
like cargo shifting in transit are a whole different deal. When you hitchhike,
that means that a suitcase hits you. On a train, it can be multiple tons.

Falling off can mean getting run over.

I mean, sure, the freedom can be great, but... highly _not_ recommended for
safety reasons. Really, please think twice.

------
ThomPete
Isn't this just because hitchhiking have been replaced by much more car
sharing and networks of people pooling and ridesharing?

Hell I wonder if it actually went up but we just changed the definition.

------
MichaelCrawford
This makes me really sad. I used to really enjoy hitchhiking, I met so many
interesting people that way.

When I got a car, I used to pick up every hitchhiker I came upon.

------
alecco
You don't need hitchhiking if there's decent and affordable public
transportation. The car culture in US is bizarre for most other half-developed
countries out there.

~~~
notahacker
I've hitchhiked on account of missing buses before...

