Texas

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<map lat='31.541089879585808' lng='-99.2724609375' zoom='5' view='0' float='right'/> Texas is a state of the United States of America.

Texans can often be individualists, meaning they will often see your lack of a vehicle as a personal failure. However, in addition to having an individualist culture, Texans also tend to be notoriously friendly and laid-back. "Southern Hospitality" lives, if you're willing to engage your rides regardless of their accents, their political ideologies, or whatever nonsense may be pasted on their bumpers.

Texas is a massive state, with many of its residents having migrated from other states. Thus it is impossible to state anything "typical" of it. Additionally, there are many immigrants from Mexico, from whom you will receive many rides. The casual kindness of Mexicans can often be your salvation, and they'll just throw you in the back of the pickup without a second thought - maybe this is because hitchhiking is common in Mexico.

Law

Chapter 552.007. SOLICITATION BY PEDESTRIANS. (a) A person may not stand in a roadway (see definition below) to solicit a ride, contribution, employment, or business from an occupant of a vehicle, except that a person may stand in a roadway to solicit a charitable contribution if authorized to do so by the local authority having jurisdiction over the roadway.

Chapter 541.11 DEFINITIONS. "Roadway" means the portion of a highway, other than the berm or shoulder, that is improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.

As with most states, the definition of roadway allows for the solicitation of rides on the non-travelled portion of a highway such as the shoulder or berm.

Texas is one of the few states where you can actually stand right on the side of the Interstate with your thumb out. Cops often offer rides out of their jurisdiction and call ahead to the next county to have them give you a ride.

Federal Districts

Note:All land regulated by the National Park service prohibits hitchhiking under the Code of Federal Regulations Title 36 section 4.31: Hitchhiking or soliciting transportation is prohibited except in designated areas and under conditions established by the superintendent.

  • Big Bend National Park

4.31 has not been amended here, so hitchhiking is prohibited.

Experiences

El Paso -> L.A. in a 53' beautiful RV with a phenomenal guy who left asleep in his vehicle with the keys in the ignition overnight in San Diego, after crossing the whole of Texas with unlicensed drivers (who tend, in my experience, to be either excellent or terrible drivers) and a near-three day wait in Laredo. What an awful place. - k
This whole article was writen with a huge liberal bias. I have had nothing but good luck from east Texas to Arlington. So far, I've had someone give me $100 (who was an obvious 'redneck' [probably a republican too!]) and someone else buy me dinner and give me $40. I've had tons of hop rides and everyone has been very nice (yes conservative, but very nice!) - anonymous
I got a ride from Texas City (near Galveston) to Houston by a used-car salesman. He let me off near I-10 and gave me $75. It took all night to get to San Antonio, mostly due to reluctant truck-drivers, but Texas isn't too bad of a place to hitch! - anonymous
Texas always gets a bad rap. I always had a good time, met plenty of friendly people, though i did more freight riding here then hitching. East Texas has a lot of hippies and was better for hitch than West Texas. - samson
I have hitched through every part of Texas at least once and have to say it is one of the easiest states to hitchhike in the whole country. In Texas hill country and the panhandle, wait times for rides are usually very minimal. The Texas economy is still doing well and people will try to hand out money much more than other states - Thewindandrain 0:06:33, 6 March 2012 (CET)
Most Texans were extremely friendly and helpful in my experience. Though the only trouble with the law I ever encountered hitchhiking was in Beaumont. The police officer was not happy when I corrected him about the actual legislation regarding hitchhiking and basically told me to scram. Luckily, the first person I ran into at the nearby gas station gave me a ride :) As a single female, I was never waiting longer than twenty minutes, even coming out of big cities. One guy who picked me up in Port Arthur couldn't take me anywhere, but called his friend who was going to my exact destination that afternoon. And once a guy from Houston bought me dinner and a hotel room to stay for the night. I was gifted a Bible from a theology student once, and he said a really nice prayer for me as well, even though he knew I wasn't religious it was still a nice gesture. A Texan once told me, "Texans can't say no," and in my experience, I'd say that's mostly true. - Jnadz 03:25:10, 29 March 2012 (CET)

Cities


trash:Texas