Please stay tuned to the end of this episode to hear a trailer from our friend Steve at the

podcast Fascination Street.

Steve has talked to a ton of interesting folks.

Some I found particularly fascinating were Ed Asner, Paul Feig, and Emma Faye Rudkin.

You can hear a conversation Steve had with me in all my awkward glory on Fascination Street too.

Now on to the show.

The Gone Cold Podcasts may contain violent or graphic subject matter.

Listener discretion is advised. Oh, In 1974, the California Highway Patrol released a study entitled California Crimes and Accidents

Associated with Hitchhiking. The study was not performed in Texas, of course, but the results are likely comparable to our state,

and it seems to present the most comprehensive data available on the practice of hitchhiking in the time period.

106 different law enforcement agencies from across the state of California provided data.

Some of the findings were obvious, such as the fact that an overwhelming

majority of hitchhikers were more likely to be the victims of violent crimes

than to be the perpetrator of such, and that female hitchhikers were much more likely

to be victimized than males, seven to ten times more likely, in fact. A staggering 49% of hitchhikers who fell victim to a crime were 15 to 19

years old, a far larger percentage than any other age category.

Another relatively common thought that is shown in the findings of this study

is that around 80% of the crimes against female hitchhikers were sex-related.

What is particularly striking about the findings of the study,

however, is the fact that sexual assaults against female hitchhikers in the

age group of 15 to 19 years old is by far the highest of all age groups and victims sex.

14% of the victims of crimes in that age category were raped,

...