i made a promise to DH, that until the kids are grown, I'm not allowed to pick up hitchers. the exception being if I know them, even just from 'around town', and I'll call my mom, and say to her on the phone, as I let them in, "Hey, just found Bob Smith hitching on the side of the road, I'll call you after I drop him off"... that way, just in case... even in rural nowhere, where I live, people are assaulted and killed more often than i'd like... i prefer no violence.. so i don't think you should pick someone up. I hitched once, when my car broke down (before cell phones) in rural wisconsin, and was picked up by a kind of creepy guy, who then had HIS car 'break down', so I walked the rest of the 5 miles home. in a dress and sandals. my feet took years to recover. generally, there's a reason someone is thumbing for a ride, and I think it's about 80% good reasons, and 20% creepy reasons... i say let the big men pick up the hitchers.