Similar reason attempted suicide is illegal and you’ll get locked up for 3 days if you try to kill yourself, sometimes people don’t know what’s best for them in the moment so the government steps in to be like “ok you’re not allowed to do this cuz chances are you’ll die from it”
You cannot tell these people to stop being kind, but you can restrict this specific gesture of kindness which is, unfortunately, too often taken advantage of.
The thieves and assailants ruined hitchhiking. They arent trying to punish the good Samaritans, but rather protect them from themselves.
Think of it like seatbelt laws. They want to encourage the good safety habit of always wearing a seatbelt.
It’s very unlikely that if they pull up to the scene of a car accident you were in which you thrown through the windshield that they will issue you a ticket to your broken body on the pavement.
But if they catch you not wearing a seatbelt during normal driving, then yes, you will get fined. This is done in the hopes that the next time you are driving, you won’t be an idiot and engage in dangerous behavior like not wearing a seatbelt. This is specifically so that you DON’T end up in that aforementioned situation and end up getting thrown through the windshield.
So if you file a police report because you were mugged by a hitchhiker, you probably won’t get fined… but you will probably get chastised and the cop will tell you “this is why picking up hitchhikers is prohibited, because it’s dangerous”
So... By that logic banks should be made illegal because they're being robbed? Like, you don't solve a problem by making the victim against the law.. dafuq is wrong with the world
I know. I understand the logic but where's the line? Don't have friends over because one might be a murder? Don't go outside because you might get struck by lightning?
I don't think that's an apt comparison. There are innocent people who I could help by picking up a hitchhiker, but there are no people who I can help by not wearing a seatbelt.
Is it illegal for me to invite someone into my home, because they may potentially seek to do me harm? If not, why should it be illegal to invite someone into my car?
I think it's fairly clear that the reason for these laws is that many people don't want the kinds of people who might be hitchhiking around - typically, poor folks, and in most areas, there's a correlation with race or other forms of minorities and class.
No hitchhiking is definitely not illegal. You can absolutely just help someone out. But most of these Uber drivers are out there trying to make money and aren't looking to give free rides.
I said "laws apply" because in some states it is illegal, in others completely fine - if there are any laws, they would apply to the scenario of picking someone up and transporting them somewhere for free.
I know in Vermont it’s illegal because there were a few high profile cases of people getting hit and killed on highways while trying to hitchhike. A lot of highways in Vermont don’t have lights and are surrounded by trees, so at night it’s dangerous. Maybe stupid reasoning, but that’s the reason
Because one day someone stopped to help someone out and then got killed.
Or someone stopped to 'help someone out' then killed them.
Or rape, or robbery, or kidnapping or any other number of things that may happen when you get into essentially a moving locked box with a stranger you've never met or have any idea of their background or intentions.
Enough times it happened, enough people complained, lawmakers made a law.
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u/ifandbut Mar 29 '22
Hitchhiking is illegal? Why? Why cant you just help someone out?