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Sometimes In [[Italy]] you have to be careful: it can be useful is illegal to get in touch with people who work hitchhike on a petrol station. Asking drivers directly instead of waiting for the car at the area's exit 'Autostrada'', and it is a good way bit unclear if it is illegal to catch a ride. It is recommended that female hitchhikers first ask do so on the male driver(''[[Area Servizio]]''s) where he (they) is (arepetrol stations with restaurant on the ''Autostrada'') going to, instead of revealing onebut in all the years he's own destination in a question to the driver, so that during the conversation it would become clear if it is safe or not to go with that driver, and if it feels riskybeen using them (1991-2012), one can pretend not going the same direction. [[FileUser:Masaru.jpg|thumbPrino|left|Masaru hitchhiking at a petrol stationPrino]]Starting a conversation will give drivers more chances to look at you as a person. It is less likely then that their answer will be negative if the direction of yours and the driver's destinations matcheshas never ever encountered problems on them.
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'''Petrol station [[hitchhiking]]''', as well as hitchhiking on [[rest area|service stations]] in general, is a great way to travel for free in countries where hitchhiking on highways is forbidden. It generally works best if the number of petrol stations on a highway is around 1-2 per 100-150 km ''(?)''. On most petrol stations you can easily find cars going your direction, although you have to be aware of highway splits, too.
Sometimes it can be useful to get in touch with people who work on a petrol station. Asking drivers directly instead of waiting for the car at the area's exit is a good way to catch a ride. It is recommended that female hitchhikers first ask the male driver(s) where he (they) is (are) going to, instead of revealing one's own destination in a question to the driver, so that during the conversation it would become clear if it is safe or not to go with that driver, and if it feels risky, one can pretend not going the same direction.
[[File:Masaru.jpg|thumb|left|Masaru hitchhiking at a petrol station]]
Starting a conversation will give drivers more chances to look at you as a person. It is less likely then that their answer will be negative if the direction of yours and the driver's destinations matches.
==== Country Commentary ====
[[Germany]] is especially good for this. In [[France]] it works slightly worse (even though still good enough) because of the higher number of petrol stations per given distance, thus relatively less cars per petrol station.
When in Germany, it is generally recommended to avoid the so called ''Autohofs'' which usually are not great for hitching a ride mostly because they are not located directly on the Autobahn and it is hard to get a ride from there in exact direction of where you are heading to.
''Autobahnraststätte'' is totally different: There you find both a petrol station and a restaurant for all sorts of people who need a break - an excellent place!You should pack a map with all service areas and study it. Alternatively you can download a [http://autobahnatlas-online.de/index_e.html pdf here] with all service areas and onramps on it and combine it with your smartphone.
In [[ItalyThe Netherlands]] you have Shell has the policy to ask hitch-hikers on their service stations on the motorway to be careful: it is illegal stand behind the services or next to hitchhike on the ''Autostrada'', and it building. The same is a bit unclear if it is illegal to do so on applied by some of the ''[[Area Servizio]]''s (BP petrol stations with restaurant on in the ''Autostrada''), but in all west of the years he's been using them (1991-2012), [[User:Prino|Prino]] has never ever encountered problems on themNetherlands.It is just better not to try to talk with everybody!
[[Category:Practical info]]
