Are you afraid to walk alone at night?

[Phoenix84]

Are you afraid to walk alone at night?

I was surprised to learn this is now the number one fear of Americans. It's a bit irrational (as most fears are) since violent crime rates have been dropping continuously since the 60's.

As for me, I'm not normally afraid to walk alone at night. If an area is seedy or has a high crime rate, I might be concerned, but not in most general areas.

Another interesting factoid, those with less education and more television viewership are generally more fearful.  How many of these fears do you have?

www.chron.com/life/article/Survey-reveals-America-s-biggest-fears-5840250.php

[Deleted]

I love to walk in the dark.  It's when I do most of my exercise walking.  Except for public speaking which TERRIFIES me, nothing else on that list I give any thought to at all. 

[Artemis Windsong]

I have been careful about being out at night and definitely no walking.  Crime has increased in our city. 

[Shooby]

It depends. As a female, I have always been cautious. I used to jog a trail through the woods when I was younger, but then thought better of it. I don't go hike alone through the woods. I mean, if I took my dog and handgun, then I would but alone, no. I think that women have to be careful. Yeah, the stats might be low, but I am not interested to take that chance.

In my town, I feel that it is very safe so no, I don't have a problem walking alone in familiar areas. Obviousy, I am more comfortable if I know the area than if I don't.

[mmhmm]

I think a lot would depend on where you live, or where you might find yourself walking at night. Here, in our neighborhood, I have no problem walking at night. The worst that could happen is I'm loved to death by a dog, a cat, or a duck. If I lived in an inner city where crime rates are high, however, I'd probably feel very differently.

[dannylion]

Since I live in a safe neighborhood, walking alone at night here doesn't really bother me except that I walk with a cane due to arthritis and uneven ground is difficult for me to negotiate even in daylight. Also, there was a bear sighting a few blocks away. I would not like to encounter a bear at night. On the other hand, you could not pay me enough to walk alone in many areas of Baltimore in the daytime let alone at night. It just depends on the environment. 

Most of the other items on the list are not things I worry about, though I do make an effort to protect personal information.  I actually enjoy public speaking.

Since I volunteer in the emergency room in a big hospital, I do think about mass shootings sometimes as it is not outside the realm of possibility, but it doesn't weigh on my mind or alter my activities. 

I am mostly afraid of the stupid people I have to share the roads with.  And clowns.   

[billisonboard]

Isn't fear great.



Quieting the fear.

Not defeating it.  Not silencing it.  Simply quieting it.

This is the way that I deal with fear and the way that I talk to people as they consider climbing trees and stepping out onto cables strung between trees at varying heights.  "Fear is my friend, not my boss.  It works to keep me safe.  I will admit that at times I have let control me but I have learned to do that less and less.  I do listen to it when it stops by.  I ask it why it is there.  Sometimes it has a very good reason to be around.  I thank it and alter my behavior.  Others times the reason is not so good.  I thank it no the less but tell it I won't be needing it this time.  I do encourage it to come back if it feels it needs to."

[souldoubt]

Not at all but I'm a male, where I live is a pretty safe city and it's mostly tracks of homes which attracts a more laid back atmosphere and more families compared to apartments.  It's not like I go out for midnight walks but I've got no problem walking around here at night and we go for walks regularly.  That said I wouldn't advocate my girlfriend or any other woman walking alone or sometimes even in a group at night because it creates a crime of opportunity.  Our downtown area is pretty well known and there's multiple bars so during the summer or even on any given weekend people are out drinking.  As safe as it historically has been some years back a girl walked home alone after a night of drinking and a guy who worked downtown that was on his way home saw her alone and ended up raping and killer her.  When they caught the guy he didn't have anything in his past that would suggest he'd do something that violent so I think some of it was because he saw a girl walking alone at night and the opportunity presented itself.  Kind of one of those things where you try to teach your kids not to put themselves into a bad or dangerous situation but sadly when alcohol is involved you don't always think about that.   

[Miss Tequila]

Yes

[Spellbound454]

Not scared of public speaking as I do it all the time

Not scared of being on the internet, as I'm confident I can take care of myself.

I'm not scared of the dark

but a lone female could well get mugged in these parts

so I would take a taxi, drive or walk in a group to be on the safe side.

[Deleted]

In some neighborhoods I am & some I'm not. If really dark I am & if well lit I'm not.

There are some neighborhoods here that I would not have been afraid to walk in at night a few years ago but now I won't.

Partly because those neighborhoods have changed and party because I can't run as fast as I used to.

[busymom]

My computer's security system wouldn't let me read the article.

I don't like walking alone in the dark. But, I blame it on being raised in a large city, & not wanting to be a crime victim. 

[Ava]

Not afraid at all.

I don't generally think something bad is going to happen.

One time I went to Philly for a Paul McCartney concert on my own.

The show ended near midnight and I had to go back to downtown for my bus back to NYC.

As I walked alone I saw some groups that looked suspicious, but I just kept strolling by, looking confident and ignoring them. They just looked at me but nobody approached me.

When I was doing my undergraduate there was another woman in the class who told me she was afraid to walk alone to her car in the parking lot at night. I had never thought about it. It was dark and we had to walk about two blocks to student assigned parking at about 10:00 PM. The school entrance and anyone could have gotten in.

Maybe it's because I come from a country where insecurity is really a tough issue, that I don't worry about it here.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I hate it, especially now.  Never used to bother me much before, but now it does not take much of an uneven pavement to send me to the ground so I am always scanning what's ahead of my path that could trip me up.

i did have concerns while I was on campus at night because it was not uncommon for there to be several assaults each month, particularly on women.  I tried to stay on more well lit paths and parked closer to where I was going to leave campus from, rather than closest to my lab.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

The suburb/community I live in is a fairly new one - it's on the far outskirts of the city. The families are all young to middle-aged for the most part, with lots of kids in the neighborhood. I don't have a problem with walking alone at night here.

Even walking the pathway along the little creek at night doesn't worry me..

Further into the city, it would all depend again on which neighborhood or area of the City I'm in as to whether I'd walk there alone at night.

The downtown business and hotel/restaurant core is buzzing 24 hrs a day, and I've never felt uncomfortable being alone there at night.

I'd say that in a City of over 1 million in population, maybe a total of 10% or so of the city is what I would call "questionable" or "undesirable" neighborhoods. I just don't make a point of going to those areas - even during the day.

We have light rail transit within the city as well ([part of the City transit system) and I never did feel completely safe in the terminal or on the platform or even train if alone late at night.

During the day, there's so many people riding it or at the terminals, it's not as likely something "bad" would happen. At night,I wouldn't feel nearly as comfortable at night if alone.

[sarcasticgirl]

I don't enjoy walking alone after dark. I HATE the winter when the sun sets at 4:30 in Chicago!

Generally after 10pm if I am out, I take a cab, I won't take the train.


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[Tiny]

Depends on how you define "afraid". I have an irrational fear of water - so going out on the lake on a Tourist Tour boat OR taking the Water Taxi - makes me feel alittle panicy. I was happily watching Alfred Hitchcocks' The Birds for the first time ever - on my brand new big screen TV and the scene where the woman is riding across the bay in a little dinghy bouncing up and down with the waves caused me to have a full blown panic attack - in the comfort of my living room. I wasn't expect this scene - combined with what a pleasant sensation of 'tension' from what was going on in the movie... I still get alittle panic-y thinking about it.

That said. I don't have that kind of fear about walking at night. But there are lots of times I'm cautious and alittle bit uncomfortable walking at night:

If I stayed too long at the opera house (cause I was chatting with someone) and I then have to walk the 3 deserted city blocks to the parking garage - combined with the now mostly deserted parking garage.

Walking along the street at night in a neighborhood with NO street lights (or one every quarter mile) and occasional traffic.

Walking alone in the evening in a poorly lite suburb (because I DON"T want to surprise a raccoon/possum/skunk).

Walking alone around midnight or after - even in my 'safe' well lit neighborhood - the only people out then are the people doing questionable stuff or stumbling home from the bar.

Anytime I have to walk alone into a place I'm not familiar with and which might be 'dangerous'.

Can you tell I'm a woman? I'd totally do any and all of the above without a second thought if I was with someone else - even another woman (but probably not if I was with a child).

[Deleted]

Absolutely won't in my 'hood because that would be terminally stupid. Probably wouldn't do "alone" anywhere else in town because there are no good outcomes on that.  Downtown, late after a concert, maybe with a group.  Alone, no way.  Safety in numbers here.  This is just my feeling; BFF's DH walks their dogs in the 'hood at 11 p.m.   

[teen persuasion]

All depends on how I feel about the area, and perceived dangers.  I wouldn't be afraid of attack in my area, but walking at night along our dark rural road (55 mph) could be dangerous, especially in winter (the plows would run you down, and with no shoulder or sidewalks there is nowhere to go).  When I lived in the city I always walked to campus, and was often leaving the computer labs at late hours.  I remember walking home one night down the middle of Main St, since it was a raging snowstorm.  I have never seen it that dead.

The one time I felt afraid walking at night was when I was walking our dog, with a newborn in a front carrier-thingy, and we met a Rottweiler.  It was pretty challenging holding my dog back without the baby flapping around more than I liked and I had no idea what the other dog would do.  DH must have had to work a late shift that night, we usually walked together or I stayed home with the baby, and we were renting and had no yard.

[MJ2.0]

Depends on where I am. The house is in a really good neighborhood so I would feel 90% safe walking around at any time of day/night. Right now I'm in a more urban area and I do minimize my time walking alone period. Once when I was hear a month or so ago I was driving through at around 9:45pm and was stopped at a red light. A random guy came up to my car window and adamantly begged me for money. No one else was around. I know the doors were locked and the window was up, but I was pretty damn scared. I just about floored it when the light turned green.

[weltschmerz]

Mar 22, 2015 13:11:36 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Are you afraid to walk alone at night?

I was surprised to learn this is now the number one fear of Americans. It's a bit irrational (as most fears are) since violent crime rates have been dropping continuously since the 60's.

As for me, I'm not normally afraid to walk alone at night. If an area is seedy or has a high crime rate, I might be concerned, but not in most general areas.

Another interesting factoid, those with less education and more television viewership are generally more fearful.  How many of these fears do you have?

www.chron.com/life/article/Survey-reveals-America-s-biggest-fears-5840250.php

No, not even a little bit. I do it all the time, and I live in a big city.

[justme]

For me it depends upon the area (do I know it or not) and uhh how much I've had to drink. I've lived downtown for five years now so I know the area pretty well and where and when I shouldn't walk alone. When I'm somewhere on vacation I'm much more wary. Though I'm sure part of that has to do with security cameras and guards where I live plus the main police dept less than a mile away and have a pretty good presence.

Like the other night I went to a hockey game solo and saw 4 cops on my walk home and security at my place answered on like the third ring so I could report my stolen bike.

[MarleyKeezy78]

Nope, we live in a very safe area and I love the fact that we can walk around late into the night if we choose and not have to worry. When I have friends or family over to do girls or cousins night, it's nice to be able to stumble home and enjoy the walk   Would I do it in Detroit, hell no!!! I also spent many a late nights in Ann Arbor walking, exploring and even talking to an occassional homeless person, never felt scared there, everyone is pretty cool.

[cronewitch]

I usually go to my mail box after dark but I make sure I know if others are walking nearby. My neighborhood isn't good and one lady was attacked walking to her car from the bus stop a block away. When I worked in an industrial area I parked pretty far away and if I worked really late I got a little scared. We had homeless living behind the dumpster and sometimes they would ask me for money as I got to my car. I was ok until about 7-8PM when it got dark at 4:30 and once I thought about it so long I asked the security guard to watch out for me. He checked our other pier and was headed back past my car when I got to it. It is reasonable to be careful for a lone women anytime, If I remembered I moved my car closer after the union guys left for the day.
I used to take two buses home and change down town around 5PM but one night I went to the library between buses so had to walk 3-4 blocks at 7:30 at night in a really bad part of town when nobody was left in the city but bums. I vowed never to do that again.

[marvholly]

Not afraid to walk near my home or either of my DDs homes. I will NOT walk near either of my 2 major transit stops at night.  Someone (male or female) is ALWAYS getting mugged and/or robbed near them. 

However, I do consider it prudent to avoid walking alone in the city and/or areas I am NOT nearly so familiar with especially since Chicago has CONSTANT news stories about (epecially) women being mugged and/or raped in just about every area of the city.

[Shooby]

I think we used to call it good old fashioned Common Sense. No, you don't want your teenage daughter walking some lonely stretches of road alone or walking in dimly lit parking garages in a high crime area. 

[bobosensei]

I try to be careful wherever I am.  About 10 years ago I was walking alone to my car in the walmart parking lot.  I was a bit away from the entrance, but there were people coming and going (it was a 24 hour walmart) so it wasn't deserted.  After I got into the car a young guy popped up from out of nowhere.  He was decent looking, well dressed, and appeared to be a college student.  I was in a college town that had a lot of other neighboring universities in nearby towns.  It wasn't the big city or the ghetto.  I rolled down the window about a few inches because I was uneasy, but it wasn't like I was completely alone and totally afraid.  The guy was trying to get me to get out of the car to go with him somewhere that I couldn't see from my car.  He claimed he was doing something for school and needed people to answer a questionnaire, but this was like 10 or 11pm.  I refused to get out of the car, and he was trying to pressure me.  I told him to back up so I could leave.  He was very close to the car, and was refusing to move until I "helped him."  So I started to back up.  He panicked and I stopped, and he said you wouldn't really run over my foot would you?  And he insisted he was going to keep it there, and continued to pressure me to get out of the car.  So I just said, well, yes I will run over your foot.  And revved the engine and backed up.  He moved.  He called me a b*tch and other things.  I don't like to think what might have happened if I have gotten out of the car.  Clearly this was not an upstanding individual the way he was acting.

If this happened to me now I wouldn't have a long drawn out conversation with a stranger.  I would tell them to stay back, and I wouldn't hesitate to run over some random guy's foot or to use whatever I have in hand as a weapon.  I would also report the situation which I regrettably did not do before.  I still don't have an iphone, but it would certainly come in handy for taking a picture to give to the cops.

With that said I do walk around at night sometimes, but we live in the country and I always have my dogs with me and a metal walking stick that could be used as a weapon.  My big dog would bite someone if they approached and I was afraid.

[mroped]

Not afraid per se in any of the listed cases. Uneasy at times or a bit uncomfortable, yes!

Walking at night, in a strange or foreign place would make me a bit uneasy but I never had any reason to be afraid. I lived briefly in Silver Springs/DC area and didn't have any problems.
Living in Montreal was like being in the "Safe Kingdom" of sorts. If you are seating on a bench in the park at 2 o clock in the morning passers by might stop to ask you if you are alright and then bidd you "Good Night".

I always try to be aware of my surroundings, kind a mapping the way forward and return if necessary but that is more or less a habit.
The only place that I am absolutely uncomfortable are the roller coasters. I hate the damned things! 

[Deleted]

I live out in the country.  The only danger I come across is tripping.

[zibazinski]

I don't walk alone during the day without carrying. Criminals are let out in droves to commit more crimes. I'm a sitting duck.