# What happened to "Lovers Lanes"? Do they still exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447 "2021-05-05T16:39:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/41 "2021-05-06T17:03:54Z")
This thread reminds me of the dangers of walking around college campuses after dark - you never knew whether the stairwell, sports field, or study room you entered was going to feature a couple in the middle of something… ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/42 "2021-05-06T18:04:05Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I actually just googled this subject out of curiosity to see if there were any real places called ‘lover’s lane’ I posted one upthread. I have a hobby that involves looking at Googlemaps for various parts of the US and have run across other Lovers Lane’s elsewhere in the US, but can’t remember what cities they’re in. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/43 "2021-05-06T18:14:54Z")
Where I grew up, Lover’s had to jump to their death. > **[Lover’s Leap | Hannibal Parks and Recreation](https://www.hannibalparks.org/parks/lovers-leap/)** ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/44 "2021-05-06T18:23:58Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > _literally hundreds_ of discarded condoms The gardening contractor at the university Hall of Residence where I stayed at the end of the '60’s used to complain all the time, about them jamming-up his mower… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/45 "2021-05-06T18:55:16Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > _literally hundreds_ of discarded condoms. I’ve heard them called “Charles River Whitefish” in Boston. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/46 "2021-05-06T21:08:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve heard them called “Charles River Whitefish” in Boston. There was also Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ 1983 song “Coney Island Whitefish”, which has “Scumbag!” (another slang for condom) repeated throughout the chorus. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/47 "2021-05-06T22:06:10Z")
Oh my. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/48 "2021-05-06T23:02:10Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I think the other thing was that attitudes to sex relaxed and teens just started having sex at home. Maybe a little. But I think that moms entering the work force is a bigger reason. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/49 "2021-05-07T00:35:33Z")
Ha good point ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/50 "2021-05-07T08:29:15Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@SanVito](#): > > > > I actually just googled this subject out of curiosity to see if there were any real places called ‘lover’s lane’ > > I posted one upthread. I have a hobby that involves looking at Googlemaps for various parts of the US and have run across other Lovers Lane’s elsewhere in the US, but can’t remember what cities they’re in. For your collection: There is a Lover’s Ln just east of Gilroy, Ca. along Pacheco Pass Hwy (State Rt. 152). https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=36.9715347,-121.432718&z=17&output=embed&dg=ntvb ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/51 "2021-05-08T06:14:47Z")
https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.793979,-88.8841923&z=16&output=embed&dg=ntvb&q=W%2BHartzell%2BRd,%2BMilton,%2BWI%2B53563 Here’s the road I tried out the summer of 1992. Looks like 1 house has been built along the road since then, but the dead end part of the road looks pretty much unchanged and still ripe for teens tempting slasher killers. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/52 "2021-05-11T04:07:50Z")
Probably the biggest Lovers Lane in the country is the one that’s now a major arterial across the middle of North Dallas. When was it really last a lovers lane? Maybe in the 1940s. As for the practice of parking on a deserted road for heavy petting, I suspect that still exists to some degree in exurban and rural areas. But in suburban and urban areas, it’s probably fallen victim to a combination of irrational fear (the slasher movie trope) and lots of opportunities for teenage nookie without needing to “go parking.” Families are smaller, a lot of teenagers have the house to themselves for a couple hours after school—plus some modern parents are even pretty openminded about teenage sex. One of my neighbors is a family with a 16-year-old boy, and I notice that his girlfriend seems to spend the night with him at least once a week. ---
**Author:** ![Gruppen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/77aa72/32.png) [@Gruppen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gruppen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/53 "2021-05-11T06:45:00Z")
Why DID the cop tap on the window and tell you to move along? Is there something illegal about making out in a parked car? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/54 "2021-05-11T11:29:33Z")
I would guess it fell under the category of “loitering:”. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/55 "2021-05-12T02:22:29Z")
> [@Gruppen](#): > > Why DID the cop tap on the window and tell you to move along? Is there something illegal about making out in a parked car? When I took Drivers Ed in 11th grade in Los Angeles (1968), they warned us about this! Mulholland Drive was the famous Lovers Lane in those days in that area. The laws about statutory rape were nasty then, and maybe still are, or maybe it was just all exaggerated propaganda they told us to scare the bejabbers out of us so nobody would do it. The law was, as they told us, that it was statutory rape if the participants had so much as removed any part of their clothing that would normally be worn. Yes, even of the parties have simply removed their shoes and are making out, they are guilty of statutory rape! Oh, and of course, it was always only the male participant, and not the female participant, who was guilty of statutory rape. You can see the need for a Mens Rights Activist Movement right there. So if those mean nasty cops merely tapped on your window and told you to move along, they were doing you a grand favor! By law (we were always told), they could have busted the male party and hauled you off to Juvenile for the rest of your days! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/56 "2021-05-12T16:01:58Z")
June, 1980. Philadelphia. Prom Night for an unnamed suburban high school. Said Prom dance was at a hotel in Center City. We go driving. Wind up near Valley Forge National Park. Find a chain down, go driving into the park. Find a parking lot overlooking the Encampments. Commence doing things we liked to do. Headlights appear suddenly. I get pants and shirt on. A National Park Police officer taps his knuckles on the back hood. I step up. He says, So. What are you doing? " Just necking… " " Why don’t you put your neck back into your pants and get out of my park? " We drive away. I appreciate how brilliant that line was. We found another more secluded spot and happily resumed… ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/57 "2021-05-13T02:35:54Z")
Coffee spit take! Lol ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/58 "2021-05-14T16:49:26Z")
Well told! The best part about much of work life is that it’s repetitive enough that with a good memory you can have a witty comeback for everything. At least the 3rd or 15th time it happens and you’ve refined your answer. Bravo for the unnamed Park Policeman. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/59 "2021-06-23T20:51:17Z")
As long as we’re telling jokes here: Cop comes up on a parked couple making out in a cemetery. He says: “Didn’t you see the ‘No Trespassing’ sign?” Kid says, “No, we just saw the _other_ sign.” Cop replies: “What other sign?” Kid replies: “Get Lots While You’re Young”. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447/60 "2021-06-24T13:58:46Z")
But seriously, the office where I used to work was set back from the street, with a parking lot behind it, a cemetery on one side, a closed grocery store on the other, an a stretch of vegetation behind it. It saw a fair amount of action when we were still there. I can imagine it now that the building is empty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lovers-lanes-do-they-still-exist/941447.md?page=4)