Don’t we all want our life to be like a movie sometimes, scenes that we see happen in movies, we hope that we come across similar situations? And I’m guessing everyone saw the horror movie ‘The Hitcher’, because if not I highly recommend it.
The reality is that hitch-hiking in real life is nothing like the movies. The running joke between people who ask for rides out of the blue, is asking, “how do you know I am not a serial killer?” to which our protagonist replies, “what are the odds of 2 serial killers in the same car?” Funny right? No.
Hitch-hiking or also known as thumbing, auto stop or hitching, is a means of transportation that happens when one asks an individual, usually a stranger for a ride in their car.
Now, hitch-hiking makes for a great story or a partner to talk to or a ride to where you want to go, but what people forget about this is that this is incredibly dangerous. You are putting your life in the hands of a stranger that may or may not have a heart of gold.
The truth is that people aren’t all good. No person in this world has a blessed heart of an angel who will go out of their way to help you out without any remuneration or compensation in return. And that is just the beginning of the dangers that come with hitch-hiking.
Danger to your life
Voluntarily putting your life in the hands of someone unknown, someone who cannot be trusted, and someone you know absolutely nothing about except the fact that they will let a stranger sit in their car with no information can be a dangerous pledge to take.
There are ‘professional’ hitchhikers who claim that there are little to no risks for hitchhiking but that is not true. The driver could be driving under the influence of alcohol, might have consumed paraphernalia or commonly available drugs such as weed or ecstasy.
Taking a stance like this can be very scary for you. Even if not through direct harm from the driver, you could end up in a car accident because you never know how good of a driver is the person who will pick anyone up from the road ‘along for a ride!’
According to a report, some statistics will help you understand the cases of sexual assaults, accidental car crashes, murders, rapes and whatnot that might occur to anyone just trying to get a ride across a road.
Some people offer tips to look more appealing to the drivers for them to be picked up more often, some lies you can tell and some identifications to can check from the drivers that might help you develop some trust or mutual fidelity between the hitcher and the driver.
The truth of the matter is that no matter how safe or how self-aware we become of our surroundings and the safety concerns of our well-being, there are always things that can go wrong and essentially can lead to a bad way to end your life, probably.
Since there is no direct subcategory of crime labelled “Hitchhiking” in police records, the data can be misconstrued and read in a way that presents it as a safer option than you would imagine it to be. But that I not true, after all the best judge for your own safety is no one but yourself.
As controversial a topic as Hitchhiking can be, it has a very simple solution. The solution depends on two very simple variables. Do you care for your well-being, and do you trust someone random enough to put your life in their hands.
If you can talk yourself into a situation where you find an answer for both of these variables, you can go hitchhiking all you want, cross-countries if you would like!
But it does not change the truth that it can be a serious danger to you or others with you if things go south, which I guess is not the way you wanted them to go. And hence, the decision is yours, in the end, to put your life at risk for a ride or be safe, walk a couple of miles and find a safer mode of transportation.
Written By - Mohammad Arbaz Jalees
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