The phenomenon started as a practical way to get places, then it became cool.
It was once all too common to drive down a two-lane highway and spot a stranger on the side of the road, thumb out, a bag slung over their shoulder or resting by their side.
During the Great Depression, jobless Americans thumbed rides from strangers as they traveled far and wide in search of opportunity. Amid World War II, picking up a hitchhiking soldier became a patriotic duty. The practice later became associated with the hippie lifestyle of the counterculture movement—a chance to break free from the status quo.
“For quite a number of decades, it was not considered a particularly dangerous thing to do,” says Ginger Strand, author of Killer on the Road: Violence and the American Interstate. “It was simply a way of sharing resources.”
In the 1960s and ’70s, enforcement of stricter state laws and local ordinances sought to regulate or limit hitchhiking, and federal law enforcement agencies began actively warning about its dangers. One FBI poster depicted a well-dressed hitchhiker and informed motorists that a stranger could be a “friendly traveler or a vicious murderer.” In reality, Reid says, “It was less about hitchhiking and more about, how do we get rid of this countercultural presence?”
By the mid-1970s, hitchhiking began to decline in the United States, …Stopping and pulling over was suddenly more dangerous. All the while, the counterculture movement was dying down.
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It didn’t help hitchhiking’s cause that a few high-profile murder cases involving hitchhikers became media sensations, and the warnings proliferated. At the same time, the high way killer quickly became a common trope in American culture, Strand says.
“It becomes a theme in movies,” Strand says. “Before that, hitchhiking was typically only used in Hollywood movies as a meet-cute. Then it becomes a way of introducing mayhem.”
Great Depression: Hitchhiking Out of Necessity
In the 1920s, the automobile industry was starting to take off. Between 1919 and 1929, the number of passenger cars in the United States surged from 6.5 million to 23 million. At that time, hitchhiking was frowned upon and viewed as a fad among affluent youth seeking a thrill.
Then the stock market crashed in October 1929, and the United States spiraled into the Great Depression. New automobile sales plummeted, and teens and adults alike rode the rails or hitchhiked out of necessity as they hunted for jobs. For the employed, hitchhiking became a low-cost way to get to work. In dire times, picking up someone in need was an act of compassion.
“It was this happy medium, where there are people driving cars, [and] there are plenty of people who didn’t have them,” says Jack Reid, author of Roadside Americans: The Rise and Fall of Hitchhiking in a Changing Nation. “And because of the situation in the Great Depression, there was a sense of urgency, there was a sense of desperation among some people.”
A 1938 poll by the Institute of Public Opinion found that 43 percent of Americans said they stop “occasionally” or “once in a while” for hitchhikers, with particularly high rates in New England. At the time, 17 states and Washington, D.C., had statutes to limit hitchhiking, but enforcement was minimal, according to the poll. Though hitchhiking was common, some critics expressed safety concerns or believed hitchhiking undermined traditional family and community values.
World War II: Hitchhiking as a Patriotic Duty
Hitchhiking became more normalized, even commended, after the United States entered World War II in December 1941. People viewed picking up a soldier as a patriotic deed. The U.S. government also launched an unprecedented campaign urging the public to conserve resources due to wartime rations on gasoline and rubber. One 1943 government poster encourages car-sharing and reads, “When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler.”
What Led to Hitchhiking’s Decline?
In the 1960s and ’70s, enforcement of stricter state laws and local ordinances sought to regulate or limit hitchhiking, and federal law enforcement agencies began actively warning about its dangers. One FBI poster depicted a well-dressed hitchhiker and informed motorists that a stranger could be a “friendly traveler or a vicious murderer.” In reality, Reid says, “It was less about hitchhiking and more about, how do we get rid of this countercultural presence?”
Some warnings also highlighted the specific risks to women at a time when they were gaining new freedoms, Strand says.
“Their hitchhiking was one of the things that was used against women really to say, you’re putting yourself in danger; you’re asking for trouble,” Strand says.
According to Strand, the link between hitchhiking and crime wasn’t so clear. One of the few studies on the issue—published by the California Highway Patrol in 1974—revealed that hitchhikers were involved in less than 1 percent of crimes in the state.
By the mid-1970s, hitchhiking began to decline in the United States, Reid says. It became less of a necessity as cars began lasting longer and ownership numbers continued rising. On the modernized Interstate Highway System, hitching a ride became more difficult as drivers traveled at higher speeds. Stopping and pulling over was suddenly more dangerous. All the while, the counterculture movement was dying down.
Fewer middle-class people who could figure out other ways to travel wanted to hitchhike,” Reid says. “So it became associated with more marginalized populations.”
It didn’t help hitchhiking’s cause that a few high-profile murder cases involving hitchhikers became media sensations, and the warnings proliferated. At the same time, the highway killer quickly became a common trope in American culture, Strand says.
“It becomes a theme in movies,” Strand says. “Before that, hitchhiking was typically only used in Hollywood movies as a meet-cute. Then it becomes a way of introducing mayhem.”
As of June 2025, hitchhiking is fully illegal in six U.S. states. While most states permit it, a vast majority have laws against standing directly in the road or obstructing the flow of traffic.
Jordan Friedman
Jordan Friedman is a Chicago-based writer specializing in history and true crime. Jordan was previously an editor at U.S. News & World Report, and his work has also appeared in publications including National Geographic, Fortune Magazine and USA TODAY.
