Paranoia

[Morgana]

I picked those charts because they were the best ones I could find on the internet.

Might be better to pick statistics that are accurate and up to date and answer the question being asked.

You are more than welcome to do your own research and present it.

Yep, spent a lot of time doing that this morning, and what I found out is that it is not all that easy to find statistics that are accurate and up to date and answer the question being asked.

That is partly because the question being asked is extremely broad and vague and doesn't take into account 1001 variables that would affect the OP's safety in real life.

So I decided not to share my good-looking-but-not-very-meaningful statistics.

And by now I'm not sure what the heck we're arguing about anymore, so I'll get off the bus here. Enjoy the rest of your discussion!

 

[rruff]

I'm curious how many of the tactics recommended in this thread for defending yourself from an aggressor or intruder are things people have actually tried and had success with.

Being friendly, unarmed, non-threatening, and unafraid worked 100% for me in 13 years full time as a nomad, except for one cop. No one ever tried to bust into my rig though... except for some cops. I've had guns pointed at me on several occasions. "Normal" people look me in the eye and are very much effected by my attitude, but a few cops decide what they are going to do before they even get close, and then proceed on autopilot. YMMV.

My guess would be that those numbers go down considerably if you stay away from major cities that seems to be where the majority of crime happens in my opinion

In some places yes, but not all. Many rural areas have high crime as well. Meth labs and transients are factors.

 

[Conundrum]

Doubtful. That chart compares only 17 countries.

Conundrum: I've never been to Alaska. What is the longest you have to drive between towns, state police stations, 24 hour truck stops, etc.? Days? Is there any way you could plan your trip so that you don't have to sleep in isolated places?

On the way up through Alberta, British-Columbia, the Yukon, about the most between towns is maybe 2 hours but many of them are so small they don’t even have a gas station or a grocery store. It’s just a couple of houses and buildings.

Once you are out of Alberta (if you are coming from the East and driving North-West) and enter BC it becomes a different world. There are no “24 hour truck stops”. In fact, there are exceedingly few 18 wheelers going up through Northern BC, the Yukon or into Alaska. Alaska is supplied by ships and has an extremely efficient Maritime Highway. It covers from Bellingham near Seattle to Kodiak and every tiny little community and of course Juneau, the capital of Alaska, and Anchorage, and so forth, in between. Everything perishable is delivered by air, which is why things like fresh strawberries cost a fortune. Contrary to the rest of the US where half the vehicles seem to be 18 wheelers, they are rare up there.

If you are coming from the South (Washington State - Montana) you will be taking the Cassiar highway and you’ll be a little lonely especially if you go early or late in the season. BC has 140,000 black bears and maybe 2,600 cream/white Kermode bears and some days you’ll see more of them than people.



Miscalculated again. Came in too early.








Black bear mother with a Kermode cub

I have learned from a couple of close calls never to let my “remaining gas mileage” go below 200 miles. You never see police cruisers up there. I am always amazed that in 9 road trips up and down (one time I came back on the Maritime Highway- Haines to Prince Rupert)), I’ve never seen a police car.

Outside of main cities Canada just does not have much of a police presence at all. In this last trip a month ago through all of Labrador and driving nearly a thousand miles in Newfoundland, I only saw one police cruiser.



No, I cannot avoid stopping to sleep in isolated places because I drive to and through isolated places. For example I want to go to Yellowknife. It’s 3,668 miles away from my doorknob. In the NWT. This will mean many isolated nights.

A correction is in order though. When I asked for advice and recommendations for safety equipment and mentioned feeling fearful at night; it is not when I am in the most isolated spots in Northern BC or the Yukon that I feel vulnerable. It is when I am in towns and outskirts of towns, when and where there is a modicum of human activity.

For example a stretch where I always feel uneasy is between Amarillo TX and Albuquerque NM. On I-40.


Arriving in NM very early in the morning.

New Jersey below makes me feel so uncomfortable.



Manhattan seen from NJ

I got lost somewhere near Chicago, took wrong turn, wrong exit, could not find my way back to the highway, the signs were gone. For a while I felt for sure my last hour had arrived. A couple of gunshots were going to put a stop to my roaming up and down someone else’s neighborhood.

Miami has bad areas, Louisiana, California has so many, Atlanta, places you would not suspect, Wyoming, AZ, Wisconsin, it’s all over the map in the US. These are the places where I become paranoid when I stop for the night. Not Kitimat, BC.



Kitimat, BC

 

[user 22017]

I picked those charts because they were the best ones I could find on the internet.

I did a search for "How safe is America" and the first page in Google had links to a dozen sources citing a new study that puts the U.S. at number 128 of all countries. Several South American countries ranked higher than us.

 

[user 22017]

That pic of the Kermode cub is awesome. All beautiful photos and places.


>>>A correction is in order though. When I asked for advice and recommendations for safety equipment and mentioned feeling fearful at night; it is not when I am in the most isolated spots in Northern BC or the Yukon that I feel vulnerable. It is when I am in towns and outskirts of towns, when and where there is a modicum of human activity.

I'm the opposite. I feel comfortable (not fearful) in big cities. I think because I lived near Lake Shore Drive in Chicago for five years. Also made several trips to Manhattan. I just can't drive in big cities anymore. My reaction time is too slow.

I lived in a small town ranked #1 by the FBI for violence (of towns under 10K) for eleven years. I guess it is what you have been exposed to. RRuff is somewhat correct about attitude in those places.

I think we were less fearful before the internet became popular. And cable news. Now we know just how common murders are across the country. But... I think most murders are between ppl who know each other somehow.

 

[Conundrum]

I did a search for "How safe is America" and the first page in Google had links to a dozen sources citing a new study that puts the U.S. at number 128 of all countries. Several South American countries ranked higher than us.

If you have travelled a bit, of course you know that a whole bunch of countries are far safer than the US. To begin with, most European countries are, but Japan, Korea, China, Australia, New Zealand, are safer too. Closer to us, places such as Bermuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, and another 25 little countries in the Caribbean are safer. From a foreign perspective, we here, look like we live in the wild West. Naturally, if you are a born and grown American you are not fully aware of it. You just think its like this everywhere. In fact, you think it is safer here.

 

[rruff]

I did a search for "How safe is America" and the first page in Google had links to a dozen sources citing a new study that puts the U.S. at number 128 of all countries. Several South American countries ranked higher than us.

And has been shown to be BS. Most of the stuff on the internet is. You can do better.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/united-states-safest-country/

 

[rruff]

If you have travelled a bit, of course you know that a whole bunch of countries are far safer than the US. To begin with, most European countries are, but Japan, Korea, China, Australia, New Zealand, are safer too. Closer to us, places such as Bermuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, and another 25 little countries in the Caribbean are safer. From a foreign perspective, we here, look like we live in the wild West. Naturally, if you are a born and grown American you are not fully aware of it. You just think its like this everywhere. In fact, you think it is safer here.

I know a lot of countries are safer than the US... I posted as much and no one is arguing otherwise. But...

The Bahamas have 3.5x the murder rate of the US, Bermuda and Barbados ~2x. In the Caribbean only Aruba and Martinique are lower than the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

 

[SLB_SA]

I'll be driving through Wyoming (& Nebraska, Utah, Nevada, etc.) in August; did it six times (three round trips) in 2021. Never felt concerned stopping for a nap (or night) in Wyoming (or anywhere else on I80). Had to spend the night in Cheyenne last year because I80 west was closed due to snow; no concerns about safety. Now parts of Sacto might concern me a little. (We will not discuss East St. Louis or Indy or Chicago or LA. ) I guess Portland (Oregon) can be sketchy but I have not visited there in a few years.

 

[user 22017]

And has been shown to be BS. Most of the stuff on the internet is. You can do better.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/united-states-safest-country/

Snopes addressed one specific tweet that said the U.S. dropped 53 places in one year. That was false. Here is what Snopes said:

"The actual decline in U.S. rankings between 2018 and 2019 was: seven places in the overall rankings; two places under “Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict”; 12 places under “Societal Safety and Security,” and one place under “Militarization.”

"Notwithstanding these factual inaccuracies, and the over-simplistic invocation of the concept of “safety,” there is a justification for saying that based on the many and varied factors that go into the GPI, the United States was ranked the 128th most peaceful country in the world in 2019, an even lower ranking than 118th.

"That is to say, the United States could reasonably be described as being in the bottom 23 percent of the world’s nations when it comes to overall peacefulness (which takes into account public safety and violent crime, but also international conflict and militarization).

"That ranking placed the U.S. below Central American nations such as Honduras (123rd), Nicaragua (120th), Guatemala (114th) and El Salvador (112th), as well as the African nations of Niger (126th), the Republic of the Congo (121st), and Kenya (120th), and historical rivals such as China (110th) and Cuba (91st). The U.S. ranked significantly below many of its European and NATO allies, such as the U.K. (joint 45th), Germany (22nd), and Canada (6th), but notably did outrank Russia, which was placed at 154th out of 163 countries and territories.

"Despite a somewhat confusing and misleading representation of the GPI, the index’s actual findings would no doubt be just as worrying to many Americans."

 

[rruff]

Snopes addressed one specific tweet that said the U.S. dropped 53 places in one year. That was false.

Which went viral (so it's all over the internet), and you repeated in post #84. It was really 118th and it was a peace index (which the US scores poorly on because it has a large military), not a safety index. The US scored 59th in societal security and safety in that same study.

 

[Happy Camper]

I grew up in Compton. Everything else is an upgrade. We didn't have a score, we settled them lol.

 

[user 22017]

Which went viral (so it's all over the internet), and you repeated in post #84. It was really 118th and it was a peace index (which the US scores poorly on because it has a large military), not a safety index. The US scored 59th in societal security and safety in that same study.

Ugh. New topic.

 

[LargeMarge]

re -- those 'Americans are violent' comparison charts
.
My experience:
* those country comparisons are nincompoopery.
.
For example:
We lived and worked in Japan.
Our city street had drive-by shootings, one a month was average... eight shot dead in eight months.
The next block had a shoot-out between gangs, four shot to death.
I witnessed these... in just one area of just one city.
.
And yet, somehow, the official federal statistics for this period list only two deaths by firearms for the entire nation?
Nincompoopery.
.
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Let us return to your feelings.
I think you show a significant level of courage by announcing your concerns... and giving the aggregate a title.
My concern centers around you insisting to 'remain in that place'.
Indeed, I think your responses are defending your position, and that seems to contradict the reason for initiating this thread... but I could be wrong.
.
How can you move beyond (my words...) your stuck place?
I have no experience with the level of fear you express... it simply refuses to take root in me.
If I was glib, a pundit, I might say 'fear is afraid of me', but I am not so I will not.
.
I was a commercial pilot in the 1970s.
How can I fly inverted (upside-down)?
I started aerobatics with observer-seat time -- wearing PPE such as a parachute -- then realized it twernt no biggie.
My introduction led to solo experience led to complacency, and that led to flying less.
Part of flying less is a factor of respect for my air-buds.... I refuse to tarnish the professionals in the occupation by becoming a statistic.
.
In your situation -- traveling alone, arriving alone after dark in non-familiar turf -- I would probably have similar concerns.
And yet [warning -- New-Age blather ahead] after enclosing the rig in an impenetrable golden egg of safety, I could probably fall asleep in a riot on an active volcano, trusting the universe to keep me safe.
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For example:
My friends in San Jose, California, invited us to their daughter's eighth birthday party.
In the living-room recliner, I fell asleep surrounded by twelve screaming running jumping laughing drama-queens.
I do not take it personal.
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I understand you believe your social skill limits your ability to feel like you could be part of an established group of experienced travelers... a 'caravan chum'.
* If you want to cure this, what do you see as a first step?
* If you see no need to change, maybe this could be a 'good fit' for the group... a balance for Intrepid Explorers with lingering memories of those zany madcap misadventures of our youth... re-living that feeling of 'ten-feet tall and bomb-proof'.
(There could also be a hankering for a remnant of those adrenaline rushes, or peer acceptance, or perhaps it could be a selective deafness to the alarmed voices of rational reasoned sanity...)
.
Because some of us visited Yosemite as kids, hiked to the top of the granite mountain, and climbed over the tourist-protective safety-fence to lean out and look straight down a half-mile to the valley floor.
Occasionally, we might need somebody to question our foolishness, somebody with greater access to self-preservation skills.
.
In other words, I think you do not need any fixing.
You contribute fine 'just the way you are' (as a wonderful man used to say).
.
.


[tx2 mod edit: some content removed]

.
I welcome your rebuttal... as long as you accept the fact nothing I say can/will change you.
Only one person can change you.

 

[user 423]

The majority of murders are committed by people who are known to the victims and not by strangers. Domesti violence, family tensions,etc.

 

[rruff]

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/expanded-homicide

 

[Happy Camper]

You guys managed to beat a dead horse with another dead horse. Rather impressive. We might need a statistics forum.

 

[Morgana]

We might need a statistics forum.

Lord please no

 

[LargeMarge]

re -- "... might need a statistics forum..."
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According to researchers in developed countries, 53.7% of responders agree.
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However, detractors note certain 'irregularities', deviations from standard protocols, and universally decry those poll results.
Among other comments, one stands as mute testimony:
* "How intoxicated were they!"...
...apparently referring to both the poll-takers and the opinion-givers.

 

[user 423]

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