Arrested for hitchhiking?

[FLNJ]

Has anyone ever been?
What are you typically charged with? Misdemeanor or less?

 

[trainfinder222]

Ticket then thrown out

 

[FLNJ]

Its more like a parking ticket?

 

[trainfinder222]

Its a apperance ticket where you have 2-4 weeks to show up at the local maggsitrate court

 

[FLNJ]

I think its absolute bullshit that you can get a ticket like that, apparently in some U.S. states hitchhiking is a misdemeanor offense.

 

[daveycrockett]

apparently you just met some asshole pigs., ive gotten a few, three in one night actually. some places like truck stops,depending on where it is will lock you up overnight. usually in drug lot lizard, shitsvilles. where the junkies fuck it up for the travellers.

 

[FLNJ]

Not for hitchhiking, fortunately. I've had plenty of experiences dealing with the police. Which has made me more cautious.

 

[Johnny P]

Was threatened with arrest in Ohio for hitching. What a waste of tax dollars that would be!

 

[outskirts]

Much of it depends on a combination of things. For starters the laws on "soliciting a ride" vary from state to state. Missouri is the only state that I'm aware of where it is perfectly legal if you do it in a manner which does not disrupt traffic or cause a safety problem. Other states are really harsh about "soliciting a ride". In my home state of New Jersey it is frowned on by the police, but they can not arrest you simply for hitchhiking, New Jersey had a court case back in 1979? where a hitchhiker was locked up for months and the ACLU intervened and the State lost the court case. Here the law is that it is illegal to solicit a ride from within the roadway. Some cops interperet "the roadway" as the grassy shoulder, but the pavement is the actual roadway. Here it depends on the township that you're in and the particular cop you're dealing with, which may be a factor anywhere you're thumbing a ride. Some cops I've dealt with were really cool and even offered me a ride or even gave me a kick down. While others were shitheads who threatened to give me a ticket. The sure fire way to handle the shithead cops is to make it clear that you are just passing through and are trying to go elsewhere as quickly as possible(as in out of their jurisdiction), and then make good on it. Many of them would rather you keep moving than have to deal with you again... well, that is if you don't have warrants and are not dumb enough to mouth off to them. As I always say, if you don't have people skills, then don't hitchhike, stick to trains.

 

[outskirts]

Was threatened with arrest in Ohio for hitching. What a waste of tax dollars that would be!

I've never hitched through Ohio, I've always avoided it, heard to many hitching horror stories about it!

 

[daveycrockett]

got pulled of the ramp 95 south in richmond VA the other day, was told it was HIGHLY illegal,bastards. things happen for a reason though i guess. Was also told i was completely insane after i told the cop(s) how i got there and what i was doing. really they almost committed me. like theyve never seen a hitchiker before. didnt get arrested though just pulled off the ramp. only told them i hitched from new hampshire to VA through the past week and made up some bullshit about where i was going, (i dont have anywhere to go) but i always have a destination! safe travels hope noone gets arrested for stupid shit. or committed.

 

[outskirts]

got pulled of the ramp 95 south in richmond VA the other day, was told it was HIGHLY illegal,bastards. things happen for a reason though i guess. Was also told i was completely insane after i told the cop(s) how i got there and what i was doing. really they almost committed me. like theyve never seen a hitchiker before. didnt get arrested though just pulled off the ramp. only told them i hitched from new hampshire to VA through the past week and made up some bullshit about where i was going, (i dont have anywhere to go) but i always have a destination! safe travels hope noone gets arrested for stupid shit. or committed.

Yup, I always have a destination too.

 

[Hylyx]

Never got a ticket for hitching, had cops sit in the gas station parking lot and guard dog me for like 2 hours, but they never even came up to me. or just cruise by me on the on ramp after pulling over some car, but they smiled and waved (wtf?).

I did get a ticket for picking up a hitchhiker, in fucking Utah, like 10 years ago. That was fucking weak. The hitcher felt hella bad, but what could I do? Cop gave me a ticket and let us drive off.

 

[Beegod Santana]

Doesn't happen, not in america at least.

Been threatened with it plenty of times, heard some horror stories about texas and wyoming back in the day. These days though I suspect that's all they were, stories.

There's always gonna be a rookie cop somewhere who flips out and thinks he's got a case. That guy normally gets told by a superior to just give you a ride off the highway. Sometimes they'll give you those emergency packs with granola bars and fruit cups. Every now and then you get paid.

 

[Charlie]

In my county, the jail is overflowing that they had to let go of people with smaller charges like driving on a suspended license. Hitchhiking is illegal on freeways and some highways, definitely illegal on many freeway entrances (those are very difficult to hitch anyways, just ask for a ride from the gas station next to you). However, they don't have room for you in jail, they can ticket you for just about anything. Hell in Wenatchee, WA, it's "unlawful" to beg, juggle, have a reputation as a railer or a brawler, even profane and vulgar language is on that list of "unlawful" things.

Egh, I won't get any further into law. I always get pissed at how our rights are diminished to promote capitalism.

 

[Ri Raw]

I have had 4 different interactions with cops, all in NC where I have hitched mainly. The first time a cop pulled up right after this truck full of sketchy guys pulled up. It was already dark and I wasnt going to take that ride anyway so I asked the cop to drive me to a friends place and argued with him about wether or not police should be able to cary guns. The second time the cops came and told me that hitching was dangerous and I shouldnt do it but they left me alone even though i was literally standing right under a sign that said you couldnt walk on the on ramp. The third time I got the cops called on me by some lady who worked at a rest stop and she said that its their policy to arrest people trying to hitch out of rest stops but I ran around asking everybody for a ride and managed to get one with some sketchy truck driver before the cops showed up. The last time it was snowing and I had been flying my sign for 2 hours or so and a cop came along and said that the cops all wanted to throw in money to buy me a bus ticket. I was kinda sketched out at first and didnt want to get in the car cause cops lie and all that so one of them sent their wife to come get me and buy me the ticket. Then she waited around the grayhound station for 2 hours till my bus came. I guess she thought id sell the ticket or something. So I never really had too much trouble with the cops but alot of that is probably cause I am young and white and a girl. They mostly tell me a million times that I am going to get murdered and they always run my id to make sure im not a runaway or missing child or whatever.

 

[FLNJ]

I was in a subway station the other day watching a busker put on this really strange show, it was entertaining. Other people stood around and watched in an almost displeased way but this didn't really bother the guy too much. A cop walked up to him and must have warned him to stop playing because he quit his performance. He seemed to handle it well but didn't leave so the cop approached him again while I was boarding the train.

Point being is that it dont matter what you do, they can find a reason to hassle you. Regardless if the reason is wrong or the charges will be easily dropped over the absurdity of the situation if they choose to arrest you.

Every jail is different, when I've been arrested in the past for minor crimes they had room for me and plenty of other people just in processing, forget the cells.

 

[ChrisHitTheRoad]

Never been arrested for hitchhiking and the only trouble I had with a cop so far was when they woke me while sleeping at a truck stop in Habay, Belgium. Of course shit like that happens, but these two were really annoying and it took them 30 minutes to figure out I had no warrants or tickets or anything open, so they took off again. I was tired, it was cold and it was raining, I was glad I finally was asleep and then these two had to pass by. Just annoying, that's all.

Most of the times cops are actually friendly and helpful to the hitchhikers. At least in Europe.

 

[briancray]

I just got a warning in St. George, Utah. Mainly because it's illegal here. The officer was really cool. Luckily I had my old voided ID since I lost my other one. They ran it to see if I had warrants and let me go. He said if I came back he'd end up giving me a citation. Hoping my ride at 5 pulls through though. I've really only heard Idaho, Kansas and NV are kind of dick about hitching. Not sure though since I haven't done it there yet. I'll find out shortly in Vegas. Just be respectful and you'll be fine.