Picking Up Hitchhikers?

[Guest]

A lot of the time my fiance &amp; I see hitchhikers holding signs of places where we're either going near, or right through.&nbsp; I'd love to be able to pick them up &amp; help them out, but I'm completely paranoid about it.<br><br>Does anyone here pick up hitchhikers?&nbsp; Or is it as dangerous as the media would have me believe it is?

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;Nope, don't pick 'em up for the most part. Unfortunately, too many are carrying drugs these days and, if stopped by the cops for any reason, the first thing they'll do is ditch them in your rig.. you can figure out who gets busted there. Another problem, and this happened to a friends' co-worker that popped over the border to do some shopping, is that you can be thrown into prison as an accessory if the hitcher is wanted by the law. Buddy picked up a hitcher that turned out to be an illegal alien wanted by the border patrol. Got stopped and, when the guy was nabbed, they threw the helpful driver in the can and he only got out due to pressure being applied via the Canadian consulate. Lost his car too (storage fees). ..Willy.

 

[offroad]

It is a pretty safe, but all you need is one in a thousand that can be profiled as a bad person to pick up.&nbsp; They are desperate, and are willing to carjack you, and that is triggered by you not getting along with them. Am trying to understand this myself.&nbsp; maybe there is a RULES FOR HITCHHIKERS that someone has created.<BR><BR><A href="http://travel.cnn.com/sydney/play/golden-rules-hitchhiking-863325" target=_blank rel=nofollow>http://travel.cnn.com/sydney/play/golden-rules-hitchhiking-863325</A><BR><BR>this is from 2011 and good to hold passengers to these rules.

 

[Zil]

I picked up two guys in a bad storm. They got to the destination and would not get out. They kind of conned me to be their friend. Later in the central valley Ca, we woke to a couple in a tent begging a ride. Down the road my "new" friends wanted to beat the boy and rape the girl. I snapped and went after the larger with a iron pipe. Some blood and they rethought their travel arrangements. I dumped the couple at the next highway connection and went on alone. Much happier. Less some valuables.<br><br>Another time two girls picked up in Denver took me home for hot shower and home cooked meal. My first in many weeks. They said I cleaned up nicely.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

I have done it a few times, but not anymore.&nbsp; I have too much of my life tied up in the van now.&nbsp;

 

[owl]

The world has always been and will always be a dangerous place. Although most harm comes from people you know or family, strangers do prey on the unwary. Make a habit of not knowingly putting yourself in harms way and you will be safer and happier.

 

[TxGypsy]

The only way I pick up hitch hikers is when I am in a pickup truck and they can ride in the back.&nbsp; I wouldn't let someone up front in the cab with me.&nbsp; I will not be giving folks a ride in my van.&nbsp; Unfortunately the world is a scarier place now than it was when I was a kid.<br><br>I hadn't ever thought about them carrying drugs Willy.&nbsp; I'm glad you brought that up.

 

[Pikachu711]

<p>As a general rule I do not pick up hitchhikers. As much as sympathize with them I cannot in good conscience pick them up. From appearances you cannot tell a good person from a bad person. So I choose not to deal with the problem at all.<br><br>Years ago it was somewhat nostalgic to hitchhike but&nbsp;nowadays it's not the wisest thing to do for safeties sake. This applies equally from the driver's perspective as well as the hitchhiker's perspective. The last thing I want to do is pick up a stranger that may want to do harm to me or anyone traveling with me. By the same token if I were to pick up a hitchhiker they may&nbsp;be somewhat startled if they were to notice me carrying a handgun as&nbsp;I&nbsp;hold CCW permits from two states. I can carry in approximately 34 states. I'd be somewhat&nbsp;concerned if I saw a handgun on someone I didn't know too well all the same.<br><br>Again, I'd never pick up a hitchhiker. There are too many bad&nbsp;people to risk my life picking up a stranger.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

 

[IGBT]

<p>We once passed a hitcher who had a pigeon on one shoulder and a monkey on the other.&nbsp; <br><br>We made the promise that the next time we see a person with a pigeon and a monkey we will give them a ride.<br><br>Now when we see a hitcher, one of us usually says "no pigeon, no monkey, no ride" (not where they can hear of course!)<br><br>I guess you had to be there&nbsp; <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif"></p>

 

[bvanevery]

I've occasionally given someone a ride for a short distance in town. Pretty rare though, and pretty contingent upon me assessing the person as harmless. Not a habit. No long distance hitchhikers. I don't stop to help people fix cars either. Even if I have the skills, I'm not AAA, and it can be just as dangerous for you. I spend a lot of time, money, and skill making sure my car is maintained and I think people can do similarly or pay for their mistakes. Consequences can focus people, and if that can't, well they're a knucklehead and I can't make them not be.

I would help someone out in a very isolated area like a National Forest, as I've been on the other side of the coin for that, plus I just think people who have made it all the way into NFs are generally more trustworthy. Sort of a "country" thing I guess.

I generally don't bite on "gas can" stories either. I'm not a bank, in fact I'm homeless with low funds. I know that some people tour the entire country telling sob stories about how they "ran out of gas." Yeah, because you decided it would be fun to tour the country on everyone else's gas money. It's called "gas canning." Learned about that in Savannah last winter. Also had some guy give me the greatest late night gas can sales pitch ever. He was either truly stressed beyond reason, or the greatest of ham actors. I don't care; I offered him reasonable forms of assistance, such as escorting him on foot to a place where he could withdraw the cash he said he could eventually get. I'm a martial artist and it wasn't an ungenerous offer, I was prepared to load up with the bear spray and the 1 foot knife in case of trouble, not that I thought it so likely. And the dog. But he didn't take me up on it, just wanted money. After going around in a circle about that for a bit, I said, "You need... to find someone ELSE... to get the MONEY." Then he finally quit and dejected he walked off.

Really, I would have helped him in tangible ways like pushing cars or adding to safety while walking, but money wasn't something I was going to give him. I do a LOT of inconveniences in my life just to save a dollar or two, to stretch that much farther, as I don't know when I'll see money again. Then someone just wants to use me like a convenience store with free stuff? No, it doesn't work that way. I give what I have to give, no more.

 

[jeanontheroad]

A friend of mine in high school (back when Moby Dick was a minnow) stopped to help someone and ended up gang raped, beaten, and tossed in a ditch for dead. Another one got car-jacked. Yes, that was around Chicago, over which I will still not fly at 10,000 ft without a bulletproof vest. But I am now a permanent skeptic. If I see someone who looks to be in distress, I will call the police and tell them that assistance is needed. No way would I stop and pick anyone up.

 

[hippiechk]

Where I live when not on the road is a vally full of itinerant fruit workers during the season...I do occasionally pick up these kids - they are easy to spot. I've also stopped a few times in the last few years to pick up a lone mature woman, each time I was glad I did as their stories were touching...no begging for money just sharing their plight.

I hitch-hiked my was all over northamerica in the '70s...I wish I could stop for them all but like the wiser heads here...I generally don't and wouldn't ever pick up more than one.

 

[jeanontheroad]

While I am thinking about it,I don't drive alone with windows open, either. My realtor was rummaging thru her purse at a red light in broad daylight in Tampa and had a guy reach in to grab for it. Apparently, he had not noticed her pit bull in the back seat. She got a good story out of it, but it was just luck that she was headed to the vet.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I have hitchhiked close on 100,000 miles, all over the globe, I don't think I once feared for my life, a few very strange rides yes. If I am alone I pick up hitchhikers every so often, if I don't it is mostly because I haven't got the energy to do the small talk, I am not going any distance, no room, they are in dangerous places to pull over or I have a bad feeling about it. When I actively hitched I closed quite a few doors and walked away just on a feeling, I bet there are far more dangers in being the hitchhiker then being the picker upper.

 

[AltTransBikes]

I bet there are far more dangers in being the hitchhiker then being the picker upper.

Good you raised this point and I would agree.

 

[caseyc]

Oh heeeeeeeell no.

 

[Mac J]

Absolutely no ^#@%ing way!!!

 

[Ms Linda]

I have hitchhiked on the daily basis when I was in my teens. I wanted to save the bus fare going to school and back, so I just hitchhiked the 10 miles. But that was when it was safer to do, and when I had no TV/news fear mongering in my life. But now, 35 years later, H...E...double hockey sticks NO! No on hitchhiking, and no on picking them up. While most people are good, there is ALWAYS one bad one. You never know which is the bad one until it's too late. Don't chance it!

 

[mayble]

While I am thinking about it,I don't drive alone with windows open, either. My realtor was rummaging thru her purse at a red light in broad daylight in Tampa and had a guy reach in to grab for it. Apparently, he had not noticed her pit bull in the back seat. She got a good story out of it, but it was just luck that she was headed to the vet.

This is something I don't have to worry about in my van - it's so high a thief would need a stepladder to reach through the window. 

As far as hitchhiking goes, I wonder if it's becoming less common now with social media making it so easy to connect with people who are going your way.  I would be open to giving the occasional ride to the leather tramps who post on facebook and such because you can get an idea of who they are as opposed to some random figure you spy on the road ahead.

 

[Ballenxj]

 Nope, don't pick 'em up for the most part. Unfortunately, too many are carrying drugs these days and, if stopped by the cops for any reason, the first thing they'll do is ditch them in your rig.. you can figure out who gets busted there. Another problem, and this happened to a friends' co-worker that popped over the border to do some shopping, is that you can be thrown into prison as an accessory if the hitcher is wanted by the law. Buddy picked up a hitcher that turned out to be an illegal alien wanted by the border patrol. Got stopped and, when the guy was nabbed, they threw the helpful driver in the can and he only got out due to pressure being applied via the Canadian consulate. Lost his car too (storage fees). 

Good points, I used to hitch hike, and also used to give the occasional hitch hiker a ride. Don't do it anymore because robbery etc. seem to have become more prevalent today.