NCJ Number
73284
Date Published
1974
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Produced for a diversified audience of elementary, junior and senior high, and college students, as well as adults, this film points out the dangers inherent in hitchhiking.
Abstract
Statistics prove, the film points out, that hitchhiking is analogous to Russian roulette; eventually there is a victim. Using dramatizations and interviews with real victims of hitchhiking-related crimes and accidents, the film demonstrates the variety of potential dangers to both the hitchhiker and the driver. These dangers include robbery, injury, sexual attack, the driver or rider who is under the influence of drugs, the hidden companion of hitchhiker or driver, automatic door locks controlled by the driver, getting a ride in a stolen vehicle, and others. Girls are warned that men commonly believe that a female hitchhiker is looking for more than transportatin, and that threequarters of all rapes committed in this country are related to hitchhiking. Despite the number of safe rides a person may have had, the film emphasizes that hitchhiking is an increasingly dangerous practice for both ride and driver. Finally, it recommends that people do not hitchhike. Some safety rules are suggested, however, for persons who still decide to do so. Hitchhikers should never hitchhike at night, never do it alone, and never accept a ride from a car with more than one man or woman in it. (Author abstract modified)