My old man used to tell us kids how he was "rolled" hitching from Calif. to Illinois to visit my mom, back in the '40's
Said he "came to" in a corn field, broke, err. robbed. Fast forward 30 years and growing up in Santa Barbara, my friends and I would hitchhike just about everywhere, especially in the hills of Montecito while skateboarding. Seemed pretty safe back then, especially there. We got rides in Benz's and once in a Rolls. I'd also hitchhike up and down the coast, never any problems. Today it's different. We regularly warned our kids (2 girls and a boy) as they were growing up NOT to hitchhike anywhere. Not so safe anymore.