Hitchhiking
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing or hitching, autostop) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle. A ride is usually, but not always, free.
Itinerants have also used hitchhiking as a primary mode of travel for the better part of the last century, and continue to do so today.[1][2]
Contents
Signaling method
The hitchhikers' methods of signaling to drivers differ around the world. Many hitchhikers use various hand signals.
If the hitchhiker wishes to indicate that they need a ride, they may simply make a physical gesture or display a written sign. In North America, United Kingdom and most of Europe, the gesture involves extending the hitchhiker's arm toward the road and sticking the thumb of their outstretched hand upward with the hand closed.
For example, in the U.S. and UK, they point their thumb up. In some African countries, the hand is held still with the palm facing upwards. In other parts of the world, it is more common to use a gesture where the index finger is pointed at the road.
Legal status
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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5][6]
Decline
Graeme Chesters and David Smith discuss reasons for hitchhiking's decline in Britain, and possible means of reviving it in safer and more organised forms, in one of the few academic discussions of hitchhiking, "The Neglected Art of Hitch-hiking: Risk, Trust and Sustainability".[7]
In the recent years, hitchhikers themselves have started seeing effort to strengthen the hitchhiking community. One example is the annual Hitchgathering – an event organized by the hitchhikers, for the hitchhikers. There now are websites like hitchwiki and hitchbase, which are platforms for hitchhikers to share tips and provide a way of looking up good hitchhiking spots around the world.
Safety
Wikivoyage has some tips for [[Wikivoyage:Tips for hitchhiking#Stay safe#Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 863: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|safe hitchhiking]]. |
Very little data is available regarding the safety of hitchhiking.[8] Compiling good safety data requires counting hitchhikers, counting rides, and counting problems: a difficult task.[9]
Two studies on the topic include a 1974 California Highway Patrol study and a 1989 German federal police study.[8] The California study found that hitchhikers were not disproportionately likely to be victims of crime.[10] The German study concluded that the actual risk is much lower than the publicly perceived risk, and the authors did not advise against hitch-hiking in general.[11] They found that in some cases there were verbal disputes and inappropriate comments, but physical attacks were very rare.[12]
Around the world
Cuba
In Cuba, picking up hitchhikers is mandatory for government vehicles, if passenger space is available. Hitchhiking is encouraged, as there are few cars, and designated hitchhiking spots are used. Waiting riders are picked up on a first come first go basis.[13]
Nepal
In Nepal, hitchhiking is very common in rural areas. Many do not own cars so hitchhiking is a common practice especially in and around villages.
Israel
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
In Israel, hitchhiking is commonplace at designated locations called trempiyadas (טרמפיאדה in Hebrew, derived from the German trampen). Travelers soliciting rides, called trempists, wait at trempiyadas, typically junctions of highways or main roads outside of a city.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, hitchhiking is legal and there are official signs where one may wait for a ride. These designated hitchhiking locations are called liftershalte or liftplaats in Dutch, and they are particularly common in university towns.[14][15]
Poland
Hitchhiking in Poland has a long history and is still popular. It was legalised and formalised in 1957 so hitchhikers could buy booklets including coupons from travel agencies.[16] These coupons were given to drivers who took hitchhikers. By the end of each season drivers who collected the highest number of coupons could exchange them for prizes and others took part in a lottery. This so-called "Akcja Autostop" was popular till the end of the 1970s, but the sale of the booklet was discontinued in 1995.[17]
United States
Hitchhiking became a common method of traveling during the Great Depression.
But warnings of the potential dangers of picking up hitchhikers were publicized to drivers, who were advised that some hitchhikers would rob the driver who picked them up and, in some cases, sexually assault or murder them. Other warnings were publicized to the hitchhikers themselves, alerting them to the same types of crimes being carried out by drivers. Still, hitchhiking was part of the American psyche and many people continued to stick out their thumbs, even in states where the practice had been outlawed.[18]
Today, hitchhiking is legal in 44 of the 50 states[citation needed], provided that the hitchhiker is not standing in the roadway or otherwise hindering the normal flow of traffic. Even in states where hitchhiking is illegal, hitchhikers are rarely ticketed. For example, the Wyoming Highway Patrol approached 524 hitchhikers in 2010, but only cited eight of them (hitchhiking was subsequently legalized in Wyoming in 2013).[19]
In popular culture
Film
Literature
- 1939 – The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, opens with a hitched ride.
- 1957 – Jack Kerouac immortalized hitchhiking in his book, On the Road.
- 1971 – Ken Welsh's "how to" book on hitchhiking around Europe, titled Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe, is rumored to have inspired the title of Douglas Adams' 1978 classic book.
- 1973 – Kurt Vonnegut's perpetual protagonist, Kilgore Trout, hitchhikes halfway across the country in Breakfast of Champions (also known as Goodbye Blue Monday).
- 1976 – Sissy Hankshaw, the protagonist of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins, becomes legendary as a hitchhiker in part because of her unusually large thumbs.
- 1977 – "The Hitch-Hiker", by Roald Dahl
- 1978 – In his cult classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (first broadcast on radio in 1978), Douglas Adams postulated on interstellar hitchhiking.
- 1984 – Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein described interdimensional hitchhiking in his book Job: A Comedy of Justice.
- 1996 – Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
- 2001 – Round Ireland with a Fridge by British comedian Tony Hawks: hitchhiking around Ireland with a refrigerator, as a result of a drunken bet.
- 2003 – Evasion by CrimethInc.
- 2003 – Off The Map by Hibikina Chickena and Kika Kat
- 2005 – No Such Thing As A Free Ride? is a comprehensive anthology of hitchhiking stories and viewpoints, serialized in The Times and named The Observer's Travel Book of the Week. Edited by Tom Sykes and Simon Sykes, it featured contributions from Mike Leigh, Sir Alan Parker, Sir Max Hastings, Tony Hawks and Eric Burdon, amongst others. In 2008, No Such Thing As A Free Ride? North American Edition was published by Goose Lane of Canada and featured JP Donleavy, Margaret Avison, Doug Stanhope, Jeff Lewis and Will Durst, amongst others.
- 2006 – Riding With Strangers: A Hitchhiker's Journey by Elijah Wald
- 2007 – The Hitcher by Chris Coekin: A photographic book, part fact part fiction based upon Coekin's adventures hitching around the UK with a camera.
- 2009 – Iranian Rappers & Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran details some of British author Jamie Maslin's exploits on the road.
- 2009 – Le Monde en stop by Ludovic Hubler
- 2011 - The Short, Short Hitchhiker by Stanley Gurcze, edited by Richard Menzies.[20]
- 2013 – The Last American Hitch-Hiker: Tales of Wander by Mark Dean Kneeskern.
- 2013 - The Adventures of Space and Hobo by Ken Birks
- 2015 – The Long Hitch Home: Tasmania to London on a thumb and a prayer chronicles Jamie Maslin's journey hitchhiking over land and sea from Tasmania to London.
Music
Television
- 1960 – "Hitch-Hike", an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents based on a short story by Ed Lacy
- 1960 – "The Hitch-Hiker", an episode of The Twilight Zone
- 1981 – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV Series)
- 1984 – Diff'rent Strokes, a two-part very special episode, "The Hitchhikers"
- 1999 – SpongeBob SquarePants – "Pizza Delivery"
- 2000 – "The Hitch-hiker", an episode of the Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)
- 2003 – Cold Case (TV series) episode 1.10, "Hitchhiker", addresses similar murders of hitchhikers in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey
- 2004 – The L Word, 'Losing it"
- 2006 – The Masters of Horror episode, "Pick Me Up"
- 2007 – Peking Express, a Dutch/Flemish reality game show that follows a series of couples as they hitchhike to or from Beijing (in seasons 1–3) and South America (in seasons 4 and 5).
Notable hitchhikers
- Joe Bennett – New Zealand newspaper columnist and author, hitchhiked around the world for 10 years.[21]
- Patrick Falterman American itinerant, canoeist, adventurer
- Ilmar Island (Saar) – last and only hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for hitching between Key West, Florida to Fairbanks, Alaska. (5 days, 20 hours and 52 minutes). Category only appeared once.[22]
- André Brugiroux – France. Hitchhiked all around the world for 18 years, 1955 to 1973.
- Alan Carter – last hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the Land's End to John O'Groats to Land's End round-trip. (39 hours 28 minutes)
- 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)
- David Choe – painter, muralist, graffiti artist and graphic novelist
- W. H. Davies – a Welsh poet and tramp, who hitchhiked America during the early 20th century.
- hitchBOT – a Canadian hitchhiking robot[23]
- Ludovic Hubler – a French hitchhiker who toured the world entirely by hitchhiking from January 1, 2003 to January 1, 2008. He wrote a book called Le Monde en stop, which was awarded the best travel book of the year 2009 in France.
- Steve Jobs – an American technology enterpreneur, the co-founder of Apple Inc.. He mentioned hitchhiking in his Stanford commencement speech in 2005.
- Jack Kerouac – Beat Generation author, hitchhiked in America and wrote many books about his experience.
- Chris McCandless – the subject of the book, Into the Wild; hitchhiked throughout the western region of North America in the early 1990s.
- Jim Morrison – of The Doors; is also depicted hitchhiking in his movie HWY: An American Pastoral.
- Robert Prins – last hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the 24-hour hitchhiking record. (2,318.4 km)
- 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, used to say that he was the World's No.1 Hitchhiker.[24]
- Devon Smith – was listed in Guinness Book of World Records for most cumulative miles hitchhiked (1973 to 1985), over 290,988 mi (468,300 km). He also held the record for hitchhiking all 48 contiguous U.S. states in 33 days during 1957.[25]
- Andrzej Stasiuk – writer, journalist and literary critic[26]
- John Waters – filmmaker, writer, actor and artist. Author of Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America.[27]
- Nedd Willard – writer, artist and journalist.
Fictional characters
- Ford Prefect – a space-hitchhiking travel writer in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
- Hitchhiker – a hitchhiking lunatic killer played by actor Edwin Neal in the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre film (1974)
- The Hitcher – a green cockney man who was featured in The Mighty Boosh
See also
- Carpool
- Flexible carpooling – Hitchhiking formalized via designated meeting points
- Freighthopping
- Slugging – Hitchhiking motivated by HOV lanes in several urban areas
- Real-time ridesharing – Hitchhiking facilitated by a smartphone application
References
Notes
- ↑ Hitch The World | ...indefinite vagabond travel
- ↑ Velabas – Travel Narrative and Drawings from Hitchhiking Around the World
- ↑ Nwanna, p.573
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Hitchhiking Basics
- ↑ Hitchhiking
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Citing: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Trampen ohne großes Risiko, Zeit Online, 1990. Stating: In one of 10,000 rides, a woman is raped and in two of 1,000 rides, there is an attempted rape.
- ↑ Cuba Hitchhiking Guide
- ↑ Frank Verhart. Lifts (ad-hoc carpooling) in Netherlands. 2007.
- ↑ The Liftershalte: Hitchhiking in the Netherlands.
- ↑ booklets
- ↑ Jakub Czupryński (red.), "Autostop polski. PRL i współczesność", Korporacja Ha!art, Kraków 2005. ISBN 83-89911-18-3
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Guinness Book of Records, 1980 page 466
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Marek Radziwon – Rozmowa z Andrzejem Stasiukiem
- ↑ Carsick
Bibliography
- Nwanna, Dr. Gladson I. (2004). Americans Traveling Abroad: What You Should Know Before You Go, Frontier Publishers, Inc., ISBN 1-890605-10-7.
External links
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 at DMOZ
- The Hitchiker's Guide to North America
- Hitch-Hikers Handbook