Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

[Albion] Do people still hitch hike ?



hopkins

Banned
Nov 6, 2003
1,189
Brighton
Saw some people earlier doing a sponsored hitch hike. Can remember seeing them loads in the 80’s and the car salesman with their trade plates trying to hitch hike. Just never see them anymore.
 








Weststander

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Aug 25, 2011
63,389
Withdean area
There's a bloke who does random hitchhikes on the A26 between Lewes and Tunbridge Wells. A bit New Age. I stopped once on the spur of the moment a couple of years ago, to give him a lift for 15 miles of his journey and lived to tell the tale!
 












AmexRuislip

Trainee Spy 🕵️‍♂️
Feb 2, 2014
33,727
Ruislip
What is that? In Wiltshire last Monday bloke doing that and walking in wrong direction for potential lift. Yours puzzled.

At our work we get new cars delivered, these lads get train fees given to them to get back home, a lot of them keep the funds and try to hitch home, they use the trade plates, as they're used to deliver the cars.
 


BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
Saw some people earlier doing a sponsored hitch hike. Can remember seeing them loads in the 80’s and the car salesman with their trade plates trying to hitch hike. Just never see them anymore.

Not wishing to sound pedantic but those people with reg plates where not salesmen but usually delivery drivers returing to their base after dripping off a car I must say I havent seen one in ages. but then I rarely use the motorways where they stand at a junction.
 


Sorrel

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,736
Back in East Sussex
Rarely see hikers these days. My best hike - in 1992 this was - was getting from Pilzen in Czechoslovakia to the UK in under 24 hours. I'd run out of money, so food was going to be an issue, but thankfully cars could go fast on the autobahn.
 




marlowe

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2015
3,898
Maybe its a combination of the road rage culture and increased traffic congestion that has made it harder to suddenly pull over to pick up a hitch hiker that its no longer so easy to do so, either for practical purposes or if you do you risk the wrath of the drivers behind you. Also its illegal to walk along many of the major roads nowadays, whereas in the 80s and before you could just stroll along the major routes with your thumb out. Another factor is a greater percentage of the population now own cars.

I used to hitchhike a lot in the 80s and have hitched all the way to Berlin and Spain amongst other places and rarely had to wait too long for lifts. It wasn't just lifts you were offered. Sometimes the person who'd picked you up would treat you to a meal and I even got beds for the night on a number of occasions. I always thought I'd return the favour when I became a driver but by then the decline had already set in and I've never picked up a hitchhiker because of their scarcity and on the few occasions I have seen them it just wasn't conducive to pull over.
 


The Kid Frankie

New member
Sep 5, 2012
2,082
Seen a few on the coast road in Telscombe recently. Walked past one on the way to the pub on Friday night as it goes.
 






Raleigh Chopper

New member
Sep 1, 2011
12,054
Plymouth
Not wishing to sound pedantic but those people with reg plates where not salesmen but usually delivery drivers returing to their base after dripping off a car I must say I havent seen one in ages. but then I rarely use the motorways where they stand at a junction.

You are right and what a shitty job that must have been.
You don't see them anymore, I hope they are treated properly by sending up another car so they can get a lift back or given the train fare home.
Always felt really sorry for them especially when it's was cold and wet.
And no, I never gave one or any hitch hiker a lift.
 


Sorrel

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,736
Back in East Sussex
Maybe its a combination of the road rage culture and increased traffic congestion that has made it harder to suddenly pull over to pick up a hitch hiker that its no longer so easy to do so, either for practical purposes or if you do you risk the wrath of the drivers behind you. Also its illegal to walk along many of the major roads nowadays, whereas in the 80s and before you could just stroll along the major routes with your thumb out. Another factor is a greater percentage of the population now own cars. I used to hitchhike a lot in the 80s and have hitched all the way to Berlin and Spain amongst other places and rarely had to wait too long for lifts. It wasn't just lifts you were offered. Sometimes the person who'd picked you up would treat you to a meal and I even got beds for the night on a number of occasions. I always thought I'd return the favour when I became a driver but by then the decline had already set in and I've never picked up a hitchhiker because of their scarcity and on the few occasions I have seen them it just wasn't conducive to pull over.
Yes, I remember, in both the UK on on mainland Europe, that planning the place to hitch was very important - you had to give the drivers enough room to safely stop. Also, you had to be at a decent junction if heading long-distance - getting a lift a few miles was rarely worth it if you were going to end up in somewhere with much less traffic.

My favourite innovation was the cardboard sign covered with strong white plastic bag material. Then you could use a dry-wipe pen to write where you wanted to go and change it as you went along. Never could grasp why people wrote on cardboard after that...
 


Raleigh Chopper

New member
Sep 1, 2011
12,054
Plymouth
Unfortunately the hitch hiking, braless bit of crumpet in a cardigan with all the buttons undone and bending over in a very short skirt showing her knickers,often to be seen in 70's sketch shows never existed in real life.
Unless you know better.
 


Sorrel

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,736
Back in East Sussex
Unfortunately the hitch hiking, braless bit of crumpet in a cardigan with all the buttons undone and bending over in a very short skirt showing her knickers,often to be seen in 70's sketch shows never existed in real life.
Unless you know better.
I got picked up in Germany - in Nuremberg - during a rainstorm by a van full of young German women. Sounds like a wonderful start of a porn movie, but it wasn't quite like that.
 




marlowe

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2015
3,898
Yes, I remember, in both the UK on on mainland Europe, that planning the place to hitch was very important - you had to give the drivers enough room to safely stop. Also, you had to be at a decent junction if heading long-distance - getting a lift a few miles was rarely worth it if you were going to end up in somewhere with much less traffic.
.

Yes I think a lot of hitchhikers, especially those few I see nowadays don't seem to take that into consideration. Whether it's because they're not drivers themselves so don't understand the practicalities of stopping, but some of them seem to stand in the most ridiculous and impractical of places. You're right, planning was very important but I suppose it was easier then with more options.

I remember once trying to hitch out of Paris and there were all these other people standing at the side of the road all trying to get lifts too. We quickly realised they were all women and all of them were prostitutes. None of them had to wait long before they got picked up while me and my male companion were being constantly overlooked. We decided that maybe we probably weren't in the best place to get a lift and walked on.
 


marlowe

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2015
3,898
I got picked up in Germany - in Nuremberg - during a rainstorm by a van full of young German women. Sounds like a wonderful start of a porn movie, but it wasn't quite like that.

I got picked up in Germany by a car full of neo nazi looking German football hooligans. As soon as I got in I thought I'd made a big mistake and thought I was going to get the s**t kicked out of me or at the least get robbed. They weren't exactly warm and friendly and there was a palpable air of menace throughout the journey. I can't remember who they supported but when they asked me who I supported I was relieved to be able to honestly answer "Brighton" as I was at least confident there wouldn't be any European inter club rivalry between us.
When we stopped at a service station for something to eat I considered making my excuses and parting company from them but they already knew where I was going so they would have known I was chickening out. I decided to risk it and stick with them. As it turned out they were as good as gold and they eventually dropped me off still in good physical shape and in full possession of all my belongings.
 



Paying the bills

Latest Discussions

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Albion and Premier League latest from Sky Sports


Top
Link Here