The Downfall Of Hitchhiking In Canada

Hitchhiking in the 60s and 70s was a sort of rite of passage into the adult world. It was a counter-culture movement founded by the adventurous and young babyboomers who were unemployed and directionless in life. The idea was that you could travel across Canada at next to no cost, alongside interacting and befriending various strangers along the way.

 Hitchhiking allowed young people to experience new cultures and venture outside their comfort zone. It allowed individuals to have an open and free-spirited mindset that so often is lacking in middle-aged working-class people. Cause at the end of the day, the driver that picks you up could literally be anybody. This unpredictability made hitchhiking exhilarating, thrilling, adrenaline rushing, and, also dangerous. Hitchhiking was so popular in the 70s that by some estimates, up to 100 000 hitchhikers passed through Winnipeg every year between 1970 and 1975.

Even the Pierre Trudeau government at the time invested in the fervour with Trudeau himself having hitchhiked in his younger years. The federal government even created a chain of government-funded hostels across the trans Canada highway, offering free accommodations for hitchhikers. Teepee like kiosks was also built to provide advice for unexperienced hitchhikers. Imagine how Canadians would react to this today when Justin Trudeau sparked national outrage when he spent too much taxpayer money on donuts. Yes, donuts.

The Canadian government even distributed a pamphlet titled On the Road, with tips on how to successfully traverse across the country. Fueled by the support of the federal government and the curiosity of the unknown and the often naive trust in strangers, hitchhiking became a national phenomenon for young adults across Canada and the rest of the world.

But by the mid-70s, hitchhiking had declined due to frequent media reports of sexual assaults and murders. As a result, the police began to enforce restrictions with many banning it altogether. Today, hitchhiking is illegal across most highways in Canada.

Another culprit linked to the demise of Hitchhiking was the popularity of helicopter parenting, many of whom were baby boomers themselves. Helicopter parents are parents who overprotect their children and have an excessive interest in their kid’s lives. The phrase “stranger danger” echoed across homes and classrooms, etching into kids’ minds that there could be a stranger lurking in every corner and street, ready to kidnap and murder them. The irony was that it was the baby boomers who started the hitchhiking boom and that it was ultimately they themselves who put an end to hitchhiking. 

There has actually never been substantial evidence proving hitchhiking has gotten more dangerous over time. In reality, It has always just been a few unfortunate souls who have been kidnapped, even though the vast maturity of hitchhikers have been fine. 

 But due to the media’s constant fixation on the deaths of hitchhikers, this has completely blown the danger of Hitchhiking out of proportion. For instance the story of the highly publicized death of Amelie Christelle Sakkalis a Belgian tourist who last summer was killed while trying to hitchhike from Penticton to Vancouver. Again although very unfortunate these incidents are incredibly rare.

Although hitchhiking has all but disappeared now, quite recently hitchhiking was brought back into the international spotlight by Hitchbot, a robot created by Canadian grad students, whose goal was to hitchhike across Canada, completely relying on the kindness of strangers. Hitchbot successfully travelled from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Victoria, British Columbia in 28 days. 

The group also tried it in Europe where Hitchbot safely made it to its destination. They also tried it in the US where after 2 weeks Hitchbot was found beheaded and stripped for parts in the gutter of the city of brotherly love aka Philadelphia. The irony. Oh, Americans….

In 2020 Hitchhiking doesn’t seem to be making a comeback with everybody constantly glued to their phones, displaying hesitation to even talk with strangers on buses and trains. Hitchhiking will forever be a figment of the past, perhaps for good. I guess our generation has Uber though.

Sources:

Picture of Amelie Christelle Sakkalis and information.  Hitchbot pictures and information. CBC.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/hitchhiking-tourist-s-death-b-c-man-pleads-guilty-to-second-degree-murder-1.4610035

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/photos/hitchbot-destroyed-in-philadelphia-ending-u-s-tour-1.3178595

Information on Hitchhiking and pictures. Pierre Trudeau pictures. The Star.

https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2016/05/21/hitchhiking-has-become-a-lonely-activity-since-the-1970s.html

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/01/18/faced-with-chaos-what-would-pierre-trudeau-do.html

Information on hitchhiking and pictures. Macleans

Why Canadian baby boomers gave up on hitchhiking

On the road pamphlet.  Health and Welfare Canada.

Justin Trudeau donut picture. Twitter 

Picked up some of Winnipeg’s best to keep us going through another full day of Cabinet meetings. Thanks for the fuel, @OhDoughnuts. #shoplocal pic.twitter.com/9vrgWnUdxo

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 20, 2020

Other pictures. Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchhiking

Hitchhikers on the Trans-Canadian Highway.University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, Winnipeg Tribune Fonds, 1972.

Uber picture. Getty images.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-check-uber-rating

Three women hitchhiking along Highway 1 in Big Sur, California. 1971. Reddit

Three women hitchhiking along highway 1 in Big Sur, California. 1971.
byu/texanwill inTheWayWeWere

A typical hitchhiking outfit in the 60s and 70s. UBC.

https://www.ubcpress.ca/asset/27556/1/9780774837354_excerpt.pdf

Featured Image. PHOTOGRAPH BY JULIAN YEWDALL — GETTY IMAGES