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|country = United States of America
|language = English (de facto), Spanish widely spoken in southwest and Florida
|capital = [[Washington D.C.|Washington DC]]
|pop = 303,893,000
|currency = American Dollar ($)
}}
'''''For specific information on each state please have a look at the bottom of this page.'''''
[[File:Kasper-hitch-nh.jpg|thumb|250px|[[User:guaka|guaka]]<small><sup>[http://guaka.org/ site], [[User talk:guaka|wikitalk]]</sup></small> hitching in New England, taken by [[User:Amylin|amylin]], September 2007]]
'''The United States of America''' as a country is divided up into 50 states; for the convenience of the common hitchhiker these states are discussed in detail along with their capitals at the following pages (see below). The US is bordered by [[Canada]] to the North and [[Mexico]] to the South.
Hitching, like everything else in America, varies greatly depending on what type of area and what part of the country you are passing through. In general you can get rides fairly easily if you hitchhike the right way; in fact, often you can find more than just rides, such as offers for free meals, invitations to homes and parties, etc.
In most states you can't hitch from the interstates ([[motorwayhighway|motorways]]s) themselves, but you can always stand at [[on-ramp]]s (highway entries) like in [[Europe]]; if there is a "No hitchhiking/pedestrians" sign, don't stand or hitch from beyond the sign. In some areas (such as certain towns or municipal areas) hitching is illegal everywhere, however, it is still allowed de facto. The police in a region may interpret laws related to hitchhiking differently, at times forcing a hitchhiker to choose an alternate route by walking or using other means of transportation. In most cases, though, hitchhiking is legal or tolerated as long as you are not on the interstate itself, where it is rightly considered a safety issue. There are also many limited-access highways (i.e. with on-ramps and [[off-ramp]]s) that are not part of the interstate system; these typically prohibit hitchhiking as well (other than at the on-ramp).
It's generally easier to hitchhike on the West Coast. In [[Oregon]] and [[Montana]], it's not even prohibited by law to hitchhike right on interstates.
== Long vs. short distance ==
If you're going for speed over a long distance (3+ hours), then the best bet is to stay on the interstates (designated by "I-##) instead of local highways. Try to stick to on-ramps that have truck stops, [[rest area|rest stops]] or any other reason for drivers to stop there (restaurants, [[petrol station hitchhiking|gas stations]], etc.) You can also look for rides at the truck stops themselves, but be discreet about it as some a staff or customers are rather unfriendly to hitchers and will rudely ask you to leave their territory or call the police on you. Getting dropped off on a low-traffic exit is the gravest danger when hitching on interstates where the police are unfriendly to standing where you're visible to the through traffic on the freeway. It can easily lead to long, long delays. Identify the last truck stop, major intersection (with a non-freeway), or rest area before your driver's destination, and get off there rather than risking getting stuck.
If you are only going a few hundred miles, you can often make better time on state or local roads. There are many more places to wait at, and there is much more potential traffic. Most of the traffic on the Interstate system won't be able to notice you while on the on-ramp. Even if you are going long distances, if you aren't concerned about making good time then getting off the interstates can be a very rewarding experience. Local highways and smaller roads will grant you a better picture of what local life is like in that area, and typically offer a greater variety of drivers.
Often, particularly close to major cities, the [[police]] will ask you for photo ID, but as long as you have one with you (such as a passport) there shouldn't be a problem. Most of the time they will be friendly when you come up clean, sometimes even driving you to a better spot.
In most states, such as [[New Jersey]], [[Virginia]] and [[New York State]], on the East Coast and [[Nevada]] and [[Arizona]] in the West, there are [[lawlaws]]s against hitchhiking that are possible to be circumvented. Most often, the laws state that the hitchhiker may not "solicit a ride" in any way, i.e. showing a sign or a thumb to traffic. The police could ticket you for ''loitering'' or ''vagrancy''. If the police passes and sees a hitchhiker walking or sitting by the side of the road without soliciting in any way, they may still stop to check IDs but technically they have no reason to pull you over. As a result, the best result is to not use a sign or your thumb whenever an oncoming car looks like a police cruiser. The laws are enforced because of "traffic safety" reasons mostly but in reality police rarely gives tickets to hitchhikers - they just check IDs for warrants whenever possible.
== Car License Plate ==
== Links ==
* [http://www.hitchhiker.50megs.com/custom.html|About laws against hitchhiking for each state]
* [http://thebplot.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/6249/]
* {http://www.RedwoodtoDeadwoodbook.com]
