Do you feel comfortable walking alone at night time?

[SoleBizzz]

I have never felt 100% safe walking alone at night even when i was younger.
I have just driven to the shop and noticed a few females walking alone along the main road although it isnt lit up very well.. This is how it should be of course and I wish i had their confidence. After years of driving and rarely going out after dark as I am looking after my Son I feel I would be really scared to do that now.

Am I being daft or realistic?

(I live in Brum)

I'm fine with it where I live, small village & well lit. In a city centre where it's busy I wouldn't think twice. Somewhere unfamiliar i might feel less confident, but I'm generally not afraid of walking around when it's dark.

I am not afraid

terrible things happened when I was afraid and my feelings made zero difference

I am ready to be hurt and to wound- I am not afraid of violence anymore

I do walk alone at night back from a group once a week but I virtually shit my pants all the way home with my heart in my throat. I am generally a fucking wimp though.

Yes, I do. I walk home from work at midnight (20 min walk). Sometimes I just go for an exercise type walk if I can't sleep, that can be between 10pm - 1am.

I'm just lucky that I don't feel afraid.

Although random attack type crimes against women on the street are obviously terrible, they are so rare compared to domestic assaults - statistically I'd be at a higher risk in the house with my male DP.

I love in a small town and walk about at all hours. Equally in London when I visit I wander about as there’s prople . But I don’t like the dark so actually feel irrationally scared at night at home going for a wee...

Yes, always have and I've lived in London, other UK cities and also in very rural areas. Statistically men are more likely to be randomly attacked in the street than women!

Yes. I've spent most of my life living rurally, with various animals that require wondering around in the dark on my own for the most part so it's normal to me. I quite like it. It's peaceful and you see so much more.

When we go on holiday if it's somewhere quiet and safe I like to do the same, whether that's walking round the Lake District at night, a nice tropical beach, or the Rocky Mountains. I don't mind walking through uk towns and cities at night but it's something I'd do to get somewhere, rather than for the scenery.

No I hate it! And dark mornings too.
I used to have an early morning job when I was younger and hated waking there in the dark winter mornings so had to leave.
Never felt safe walking in the dark at all.
When I was at uni in broad daylight walking back to my halls a man grabbed my arm (it was at the back of the uni halls on a well used footpath) but it was really quiet it was only because another male student walked round the corner and startled him he ran off, always be thankful to that boy who was in the right place at the right time. It was only when I thought about it by that footpath there was a bit tucked away where someone could easily been assaulted without anyone seeing. Thanks to that scumbag I don't like walking anywhere on my own now.

Walking*

I’ve been attacked by a random man in the street. And on a bus. And by a not random man in a flat. And my home.

I can’t avoid streets, flats, buses and my home.

I would have had to make massive changes to my life over the years to never walk alone when it’s dark. I’d not have been able to go to school in the same way as I did, have many of the jobs I’ve had, I’d not be able to exercise as I do, do the hobbies I do, I’d not be able to have a dog. My teen DD finishes school after dark for two months a year.

The thing that scares me most in the dark is cows. I find it weird to think of them standing in fields just as normal when I can’t see them and they look creepy by torchlight.

I wouldn't walk to my nearest shop as its a well known place for teenage dickheads who do bother people, particularly lone women, however I'd have no problem getting the train into the nearest city, Glasgow, on my own, and sticking to the busy areas.

I am happy to walk alone at night. I was brought up in a rural area but went to a big city for uni, and have lived in cities and towns since.

At one stage I lived in what was seen as a rough area of my current city, but I never felt nervous. I've always felt (and told my kids) that this is my manor and I'm allowed to walk here. No doubt some would call me foolish, but I'd hate it if they felt they couldn't walk around streets they have lived in all their life.

I run and I do that in the dark too (no choice in the winter after all).

I used to, without much concern but being sensible about certain routes and areas.

And then I was attacked whilst out jogging in the dark. In a very 'safe' and well lit part of naice south London on a main road whilst cars drove past.

No one noticed, no one stopped.

So now I'm much more cautious and would take a 10 minute taxi as a PP had commented on.

It depends where I am.
Big city/town, lots of people- yes.
Quiet country lane, probably not.
I finish work at midnight frequently. Would not walk home.

I live in south london and happily walk around at night (home from the pub/ station). Feel much safer here than the countryside!

Countryside scares me! Feels creepy to this city gal.

I live rurally and have no qualms about walking around at night. There are a few bored teenagers about but as it’s a small community a sharp, ‘Johnny Smith! Stop that nonsense - your mother will be appalled when I tell her’ is usually sufficient to stop any rowdy or unwelcome behaviour.

I used to walk my old dog in the countryside at night and always thought I was safer than walking her in the park in town, as who would lie in wait in a ploughed field on a damp night on the off chance a ‘victim’ would saunter along?

I walk home from the gym or train station every night in the dark for about 6 months of the year as I don't get home til gone 9pm most nights. I sometimes get a bit jittery but on the whole although my estate can be a bit rough with drugs etc I've never had a problem as just keep to myself. I know sometimes my friends worry about me walking in the dark but I like being outside, albeit I much prefer light evenings.
However, the other week when walking to the train station in the dark in a different town to get the train home, I found out the following day about 20mins after I'd walked past a particular location someone had been stabbed in the street there. It's a bit disconcerting but I walk a lot of places and won't stop that. They aren't country lanes in the middle of nowhere, although can be quiet roads later at night where I don't always see anyone when walking home.

I am on edge the whole way if I walk home in the dark in the later evening. I am fine on well lit roads but some are pretty dark. Statistically I am unlikely to be attacked but the fear remains and does mean I get cabs sometimes just to avoid a 30 min walk.

I always used to be comfortable. Now I sometimes feel jumpy taking bin bags out after dark. I'm hoping to find a happy median

I used to feel much safer than I do now. Generally where there are people, I feel safer. No people makes me very nervous, a country lane is a flat no from me.
Having said that, I was assaulted on a bridge at a train station at 3:30 in the afternoon in broad daylight.
I look at the younger generation wandering around with their headphones in, walking in front of moving traffic and just generally not having a clue about their surroundings, and it honestly makes me scared for them. Being attacked brought it home to me how aware you need to be of what, or who, is behind you at all times.

No I don’t feel comfortable. I did it once but never again. There were hardly any street lights either. Everytime I heard a movie or someone walked past me, it really freaked me out.

I'm thinking, you posted this at 10pm

I used to get home from work at that time.

No, I wouldn’t (and have never personally done it). When I was growing up my parents insisted on me never walking anywhere alone at night and I still take that view now that I’m nearly 40. I’m also that way if my DH goes out with his friends - it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are these days, anything can happen and it just isn’t worth the risk - better to be safe than sorry. I live in a reasonably safe city but that doesn’t mean there is no risk...

Armi that's what I don't understand. Random weirdos are going to loiter in places with a reasonable chance of a victim coming past. Not in the middle of nowhere.

Although in my early teens, some pervert had obviously worked out the pattern that a few of us had to hack to and from a regular pony club rally and used to loiter in some woods on the way home. As competent kids we found it funny that someone on foot thought they could intimidate us. It was only when a friend mentioned it to her dps in passing and it was pointed out his next move could be waiting for one of us alone and on foot that we realised the danger.