The corona pandemic reduced thumb rides even more. The golden age of hitchhiking was in the 1960s-1980s.
Hitchhiking doesn’t exactly employ Finnish police officers. Thumb rides were clearly more common in Finland even before the turn of the millennium, when there could also be more problems. In the crime reports of the 21st century, hitchhiking hardly appears at all.
The police inspector of the Police Board Kimmo Ulnikiemi according to the crime statistics of the last ten years, there is only one case that is directly related to hitchhiking.
“However, this does not mean that there could not have been such cases – they just may not have been reported as crimes, or they may have been recorded in the police system in a different way. If more crimes had been committed against hitchhikers or hitchhikers – such as robberies, harassment or sexual crimes – they would definitely show up in the statistics,” says Ulkuniemi.
Police inspector Heikki Kallio urges you to take a few safety points into account when hitchhiking. You may hitchhike only in a place where the vehicle can be stopped safely. When getting into the car, you should clearly state where you are going and follow the progress of the journey in the agreed direction. When getting into the vehicle, you can tell someone close or familiar with the car’s registration number.
If you don’t feel safe in the car, you should primarily ask to stop in a place where there are also other people.
“Hitchhiking together is safer than hitchhiking alone,” Kallio points out.
Corona pandemic reduced hitchhiking even further, and the situation has not yet improved, says the president of hitchhikers’ association HitchPro Matti Fouchault-Airasmaa.
According to him, the 1960s–1980s were the golden age of hitchhiking in Finland.
“At that time, fewer people had a car and the public transport wasn’t as extensive either, so getting from place A to place B didn’t necessarily have any other options than a thumb ride. Today, the motive is rarely money anymore, when you can get a bus ticket for a few euros, although of course there are still small roads in Finland that you can’t travel on” unless you go through big cities.
Fouchault-Airasmaa believes that the most significant reason behind hitchhiking is the desire for adventure: it is impossible to know in advance how long the journey will take and through which bend, what kind of people you will meet and what kind of life stories you will hear.
“Hitchhiking is social roulette: we break a little bubble and get to know people we wouldn’t otherwise get to know. It’s a very good thing – except during a pandemic,” he laughs.
Although hitchhiking is now a marginal phenomenon, Fouchault-Airasmaa does not believe that the habit will ever die for good, as it has even become a way of life for many experienced hitchhikers.
According to Fouchault-Airasmaa, the majority of hitchhikers are young people in their twenties. However, older adults can also be found in lifestyle lifts.
“It’s easiest to hitchhike alone, but it’s also possible with two people. It’s already really difficult trying to get into the same car out of three.”
HitchPro ry organized the Hitchball 4000 hitchhiking competition for the first time in 2013, after which the competition was organized almost every year until 2019. At that time, there were about a hundred participants.
In practice hitchhiking often takes place at gas stations so that the hitchhikers go to talk to people traveling by car and inquire about the possibility of a ride, says Fouchault-Airasmaa.
“Jumping from one gas station to another is the most efficient way to get far, and this way you can make a slightly better assessment of people before getting on or leaving.”
On smaller roads, there is more traditional thumb-up hitchhiking. According to Fouchault-Airasmaa, in such situations, a clear sign telling the desired direction can be helpful in getting a ride.
“Very few cars stop at all, and they are usually extremely nice people, but it’s still worth talking to the driver a bit before getting on board. When riding, you should remember the etiquette of hitchhiking: people who take a hitchhiker usually want social interactions, so for example, staring at a cell phone or wearing headphones violates etiquette.”
#Tourism #Hitchhiking #criminal #reports #Finland