My wife came home last evening from toil and said she had called for petrol and saw a chap going from car to car, asking for a lift.
" Hope he doesn't ask me", she thought. Lo, next thing, "Gizza lift, missus"
She told him to go away which he did but I wonder how prevalent this is. They usually wait at the side of the on-slip from the Shell station to the A55 with a thumb up but this one was a lot more pushy.
Being very cautious and damaged by life events... :-), I would never offer or ask for a lift from a female I did not know, for fear of being accused of something. From my wifes point of view, there was also the prospect of attack.
I asked her if she knew how to internally lock the doors on her Mondeo.
"Erm, you press a thing somewhere".
Great, isn't it.
"Push the flippin' door handle inwards" I cried. "Oh, I remember now"
Anyone remember the days in Sixties when it was quite normal to offer lifts to strangers with no thought of a potential problem? Perhaps we are not as stupid nowadays?
I recall driving home from Rhyl many years ago with my cousin. We saw two attractive girls thumbing a lift and stopped. Fortunately, I was looking back down the road when I saw three males tearing towards us with goodness knows what in mind. A set-up.
Go Go Go, I cried in pre-Murray Walker days. Off we squirted in the little red Mini to safety. That was of course a rarity and generally there were no problems.
Is it more dangerous now, or we just more aware of potential problems?
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Alwyn, I hitched it to Spain when I was 16 in 1970, great time. Had to have my hair cut to get into Spain though, Franco's days were very different. Got arrrested in France for hitching, and fined on the spot, no reciept! It still makes a good dinner party story now. I would not fancy my 17 yr old doing it today.
Mike
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things cetainly have changed,end of the great economic boom and all that, 60's do seem like they were the yrs, shame my generation got the late 80s and 90s, what a laugh that was'nt!!! Would i hitch to Spain today, well a friend of mine did and nearlly had a very nasty encounter with a burly lorry driver, don't ask!!!
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A few years ago I began to think I ought to be more public spirited, so tried to give some people lifts. The first two I stopped for were clearly complete lunatics, so I drove off. I have never tried again. Let them buy their own cars, I'm not risking it again, sorry.
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It's a two way street - as too many people know to their cost, even that of their life, the lunatics can be inside the vehicle already, as Mike suggests.
DD
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I hitchhiked from Wolverhampton to Paris in the late 80's. I still regard it as quite the most stupid thing I've ever done (won't share with you the other contenders for the title). Can't think what possessed me at the time. I would NEVER do it again, and will NEVER give a lift to a hitcher, male or female, not even one with trade plates (these are people presumably returning from a vehicle delivery?)
Ever since a nutter tried to get in my car at a set of traffic lights, I've always known where the internal lock is too - but I don't use it all the time.
I think the world out there is more dangerous since you ask. Life goes on, but common sense prevails.
Rebecca
PS I did get to Paris in just 3 lifts though...
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The central locking on all recent US built cars/trucks locks automatically when road speed exceeds 8 mph, and remains locked until a door is opened.
Here, my advice to my wife is to have the central locking on at all times - and I don't mind admitting that I do the same in certain parts of the UK.
I seem to recall that when central locking started to become available in this country - I had it around mid/late 1970s in a Renault 30 - that the locks failed safe in the event of an accdent with a major impact. To allay obvious fears, but encourage the fuller use of central locking, does that invariably apply nowadays?
Jack
Rebeca - You must have been awfully keen to get out of Wolverhampton - what's Paris got that it hasn't .... ?
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I have an ambivalent view of keeping doors locked. Understandable from the security aspect, but in the event of an accident, an unconscious driver or passenger couldn't be pulled from the car.
Like you, I keep the doors locked when driving in certain places (having once had the door opened by a streetwalker whilst waiting at a junction!), but I feel safer with them unlocked at most other times.
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Derek, I think you will find that the c/locking unlocks in thr event of a smash - used to be a great carthief trick - ram into thre car, and "Ping!"
As far as the hiking part goes, I travelled extensively in SA, the UK and Europe by thumb back in the 80s - there used to be books on the subject, telling you the best hiking spots, the best places to camp, etc.
In my motorised days, though, I always look closely at the erks who are thumbing a lift - if they have baggage, and look serious about getting around, then I may stop. However, I see fewer and fewer on the roads these days ... Is tansport getting better, or do the yoof of today not share the same adventurous spirit?
Also, I see idiots hiking at the most stupid places - when I was a youngster, I'd always find a spot where the guys could pull in (laybye, etc).
Are yoof THAT lacking in road sense?
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The Toad security system in Toad (hence his name, from the little labels on the quarter lights, with Toad Hall in mind too) locks the doors automatically about 5 seconds after the doors are closed and the engine fired up. If you do not have this but have the full instructions for your system read them; it may have that facility, which can be implemented.
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I have the Toad AI606 which does exactly that. An anti hijack system.
Wonderful
Jonathan
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Almost forgot to mention. In moldova hitchiking is almost compulsory. There are so few cars and public transport is so dire, that people queue to hitchhike. They pay a bit towards the petrol but that's it. Most cars (old volgas and the like) run on lpg. They even get annoyed if you dont stop and you have a spare seat.
I hired a car and a driver when working there. The driver (who was on very good money for Moldova, $10 per day) kept on wanting to stop and make pickups. I had to tell him no. Mind you I did have $8000 in my money belt and didnt really want to end up buried in some ditch. $15 is equivalent to a weeks wages for a reasonably skilled person so $8000 is 10 years salary.
Jonathan
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I too hitchhiked all over the world, although it was in the 70s.
I regularly pickup hitch-hikers in Chile, but this is a non-issue since they leap into the back of the pickup and couldn't get to me if they wanted. The dogs help.
I would always pick up a "serious" hitchkiker, as Ian says, but I haven't seen any in the UK for years.
I wouldn't dream of picking one up in Brazil, not under any circumstances.
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Must admit haven't picked a hitch-hiker up in years, too many idiots about now I fear, either that or my cynicism is starting to show as I get older. But 20 odd years ago I always used to make a point of picking up any Army lads in uniform as I lived near a barracks and they were normally trying to make it back after a week-end at home, took pity on them I suppose. Never had any trouble at all and nearly always got bought a pint if they saw me in one of the local pubs, what goes around, comes around. Never get the chance now to put the theory to the test as the Army have shut up shop and gone, barracks are now being converted into very desirable homes, on the whole think I'd rather have the squaddies back!
On the other hand, now drive around town with the c/locking on. What a lot of people forget is that on many models if the c/locking is off the boot is also unlocked. Workmate found that out to his cost while stuck at lights, a scrote opened his boot and lifted his power tools before he even realised the boot had been opened. By the time he was unbelted and out of the car the lad was disappearing down a convenient side alleyway, never to be seen again.
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As a student in the late 60s/early 70s, I relied on hitch hiking to get around and was always grateful for lifts received. Years later, with a newly acquired company car, I tried to repay some of those depts. The last lifts I gave were to a foreign lad who constantly picked his nose, dropping his findings on the car floor, then a nutter who helped himself to my sweets, then a pisshead, to whom, when we stopped at the scene of an accident, the attendant PC said 'hello, hello, don't I know you?'.
That was it - no more picking up hitch-hikers. Sad, really.
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All Clifford alarms have this auto-lock and auto-arm anti-carjacking feature and it is useful you can also turn it off - very handy!
The doors will lock within so many seconds of the engine running (a bit tricky when doing some DIY and the door is shut on start!) and the alarm will arm and lock the doors (if configured) after 15 seconds of ignition off - i.e. you walk off in petrol station and forget to lock the door. Trouble is - if you forget to remove your keys!
In reality - I left only the auto-arm on which meant I could walk away from my car knowing it would arm if I forgot but not lock - very handy when at the filling station etc.
The Clifford system also had the "radar-bubble" around the car to warn of any people taking a close look - trouble is, I had it set a tad too sensitive and it would bark at any passing pedestrian/car - a few months later a note appeared on the windscreen from a neighbour "If your car doesn't stop barking all night I'm going to rip its ******* wheels off - got it?"
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Very sad. In my yoof I hitched all around Europe, parts of the Middle East and Australia, and provided clean and non-scruffy always got a ride and met some fascinating people. Only once did I have a problem in N. Turkey, but nothing major. Iranian truck drivers were some of the best and friendliest and I have ridden with them from Germany through to Kabul in Afghanistan. Young people travelling round Japan in those days could do it for free. I never waited more than 2-3 minutes for a lift -- it was required good manners to help a foreign guest. This was all 35-40 years ago, when the first thing it seemed every one did after Uni was hitch to Katmandu..Richard Bran son opened the first Virgin shop in Brighton and you could listen to Zeppelin while lying on beanbags and smoking...er...well, smoking.
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I wasn't so adventurous, but I got my share of lifts after the last bus or train, and even during bus strikes when I was at school. I did my share of 'pay back' when I got a car, but I think there are too many odd-bods on both sides of the car door for hitch-hiking to be a safe option now.
My son was in Moldova for over a year and he confirmed the message above. He never carried much money, though (he was doing voluntary work so didn't have much anyway!).
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Guys holding sets of trade plates are usually okay to pick up. But beware the guy with just one trade plate.
HJ
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HJ
Could you translate for the uninitiated, please.
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