Hitchhiking (also called lifting) is a form of transport, in which the traveller tries to get a lift (ride) from another traveller, usually a car or truck driver.
The distance covered may vary from a short distance that could also be walked, to a long journey involving many rides.
Hitchhiking is forbidden in some areas, such as near prisons. In some cases, a local government may ban it altogether. Certain American states such as Utah and Nevada ban it entirely; it is frequently illegal on Interstate highways.
Table of contents |
2 Reasons 3 Reputation 4 Safety 5 Tips & Tricks 6 Hitchhiking in literature 7 Miscellaneous 8 External links and references |
To obtain a lift in many parts of the world, including North America, hitchhikers traditionally stretch out one arm and stick out their thumb. Car drivers understand this to be a sign that the person requests a lift. A hitchhiker may hold a sign with the name of their destination.
In some areas, other signals may be used. (This may be because the traditional gesture with the thumb has an offensive meaning in that region.) For example, in South Africa, a hitchhiker may show an oncoming car the back of his hand with the index finger raised, rather than the thumb. In Poland, the hand is held flat, and waved.''(Please add signals from other regions.)
Often nothing is given or performed in exchange for the lift, but some hitchhikers will contribute money for fuel. (This would not normally be the case when getting a ride in a commercial vehicle, such as a cargo truck.)
A hitchhiker may have several reasons to travel in this way, amongst them:
Car drivers may also have several reasons to give lifts, for instance because:
Although most hitchhiking occurs without incident, it has a bad reputation with some people. Some criminals who prey on the good will of others to rob or molest have masqueraded as hitchhikers to procure victims, or picked up unsuspecting hitchhikers themselves. There is some dispute as to whether it is actually less safe to hitchhike now than in the past, or if simply more reporting increases the visibility of negative examples.
Any number of urban legends are told about hitchhiking, in which either the hitchhiker or the car driver may take on the role of a bogeyman. For example, some stories have the driver as a ghost, or the hitchhiker as an escaped convict. The folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand wrote an entire book titled The Vanishing Hitchhiker, using the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend (references) as his prototype.
It is best to avoid hitchhiking in dark. Also, it's more safe to travel with a colleague.
The safety of hitchhiking varies from country to country. It's rumoured that the most dangerous country for hitchhiking in Europe is Poland. In the United States, hitchhiking has greatly declined in the past several decades.
The writer Jack Kerouac immortalized hitchhiking in his book On The Road. The road has a fascination to Americans; countless writers have written of the road and/or hitchhiking such as John Steinbeck, whose book The Grapes of Wrath opens with a hitched ride.
Hitchhiking is often combined with other often cheap forms of transportation, such as walking or travelling by bus or train.
In Poland, during the communist regime period, hitchhiking was institutionized. Many people would have a formal document for recording travels and they would give the driver confirmation that the travel occurred. It was probably similar in other communist countries. Hitchhiking was likely considered much safer in Poland at that time.Method
Reasons
A mixture of the first two reasons is when the only alternative is an expensive taxi.
Hitchhiking is often resorted to by stranded motorists or people without money or transportation such as the homeless.Reputation
Safety
Tips & Tricks
Hitchhiking in literature
Miscellaneous