What's the latest time you would feel safe being out alone?

[ilovemincepies24]

What is the latest time you would feel safe being out alone (without a dog)?

I live in a small ish town which is pretty quiet after 8pm when the local supermarket shuts. A woman was allegedly attacked a few weeks ago at around that time, and since then I've felt uneasy walking in the dark (which is quite early at this time of year), even in built up areas.

On an ideal world it wouldn't be like this but...

I live a 10 min walk from the mainline station and often walk home alone around midnight or later.

I walk to and from the gym in the dark - early mornings are dark here too.

Happily nip to the corner shop till it closes at 11pm.

Those that don’t go out after dark, would you not walk to a friends at, say, 7pm? Walk to meet them for a drink or dinner? Blows my mind.

Same here. Even though pubs are open later now. I always felt like 10.30 gave me enough time to walk home before the pubs shut and the streets went quiet and that habit has sort of stuck.

2am, I live in a city.

I'm fine in areas with street lighting until about 11pm or so. It's pretty safe where I live, just outside Belfast, but we do have some dark spots in places where people normally like to walk during the day. I stay away from those as I don't like the fact that I can't really see where I'm going.

67, disabled female, and nothing and nobody will ever scare me enough to stop me having the life I want. There is no time, light or dark, that I won't go out. Being too fearful of the unknown is the way we are trapped into small lives.

What I wouldn’t do as twilight approaches is venture into unlit areas or use any means of public transport

I wouldn't be able to get home from work in the winter.

The bushes aren’t filled with attackers as the sun goes down.

Young, naive girls shouldn’t be out at night alone. Grown women can assess the risks themselves, in my opinion. In your own home town especially.

No time limit.

Ive taken DD to gigs in Brixton then got late trains back home. Often go to the West end in the dark and drive back from the outskirts, so I'd be driving back on very rural routes in the early hours.

Often go for a walk before walk in the dark with my head torch and that can be 4.30/5am.

Live very rurally so maybe I feel safer? But I did live in Tottenham hale in my 20s and got night buses home etc.

I cannot imagine living a life as restricted as some on this thread.
i wouldn't be able to work if I did

Rapists, muggers and other unsavouries anywhere.

I’m in north London and travel home alone at 2/3/4 in the morning regularly after nights out and have no limits on what time I pop out in general

I just don’t use headphones once it gets dark

Depends where. Some places not after dark. Some places, all night is fine.

In my uni years in Glasgow I'd walk home, barefoot after clubs. Often alone. Certain streets would be empty too. So long as it was a well lit area I always felt fine. Not sure it would be the same now though.

But in a town outwith glasgow, I didn't like going out after dark. Nothing ever happened when I did. I just didn't like the feel of the area at night.

Then in north london, I'd walk home at 1am quite often and it never felt unsafe tbh. Fairly affluent area tbf.

In the countryside... it's too dark to be out after dark xD

Just depends on the area. And lots on the lighting too imo.

Because I suffer extreme anxiety and don’t trust people. So I stay indoors.

I'm 77, live in a London suburb, if I know that I'm going to have a few glasses of wine I will use public transport and walk from bus stop or station , not usually out much after 11.30 pm. When we had dogs I quite often took them out for a late night pee in the nearby park. I can't believe that people shut themselves up at 4 in the afternoon!

For those of you who think it is too dark in the country, people who actually live here, use torches.

My head torch is really bright! And the only people I see are sheep and deer!

Don't feel you need to justify yourself to others on this thread.

Nope. Not unless my husband comes with me and that is only to MH appointments or very very occasionally to see family. I’ve been out 4 times this year, once to see one daughter, once to see the other daughter and once for my MIL funeral and once to see my parents but they come here mostly.
Other than that I’ve attended a couple of MH appointments but they usually come to me. Oh and I was hospitalised for a while with psychosis.

I see the Taliban have weighed in 🙄

Out alone where I live?

Any time of the day or night.

I would go out any time (large but safe village) but might feel slightly anxious if passing a man or group of men past dark. I wouldn’t let it stop me as I’m aware that it’s unlikely they mean any harm. No harm to be on alert though.

Same for me, I do often run at around 05:30 in the morning also

I'm going to preface this by saying I have the victim of a stranger attack (man tried to drag me off into a dark alley, but I got away) many years ago.

I still go out after dark. As does my teenage DD. I do however judge where I am. I am more worried about taxis and lifts, where I can be trapped, than being on the street, where I can run.

I wouldn't walk alone in the woods at night... but that's also because of trip hazards. But will walk home from the village (pavements, very few streetlights). I look out for unlit alleyways. Dont listen to music, or have my phone out. And always shoes I can run in.

I think that any time it's dark, there is increased risk. But I don't go out at night without a weapon, a man, a dog, or some combination of the 3.

I’m sorry to hear this, it sounds like an awful way to live :(

What kind of weapon?