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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to walk through London in the middle of the night instead of getting a taxi?

61 replies

stemstitch · 31/08/2013 22:10

Did this last night, after I stayed too late at a friend's house and thought there was a night bus. Turns out there wasn't. It was only about a mile and a half and it was about 1am. Quite a lot of cars still driving around and I was walking mostly on main roads, which were lit, through non-dodgy area. I felt pretty safe.

Now wondering whether maybe it wasn't a bit reckless (my parents, e.g., would freak if they knew I'd done it) but also know that statistically I'm far more likely to be attacked by someone I know... Would you walk by yourself at night in a city?

OP posts:
AcrylicPlexiglass · 31/08/2013 22:20

Yes, I always walk though London late at night.

Mintyy · 31/08/2013 22:21

Yanbu. Loads of my friends and family work in the theatre. What would happen if they all refused to walk home alone late at night? Or all the people who work in the bars and clubs in central London? They certainly don't live in the middle of town as they can't afford it and they can't afford to take taxis either. I would think you are safer in well-lit streets in London than in the back streets of a provincial town.

Original poster
stemstitch · 31/08/2013 22:22

Sad imagine, poor you. I have been raped too, but it was at home in my own bed

OP posts:
AtYourCervix · 31/08/2013 22:22

London fiiine.

Swansea on the othrr hand...........

marriedinwhiteisback · 31/08/2013 22:23

Hmm. Parts of clapham and Wandsworth very safej parts not. I've been made v nervous at w0pm waiting for a bus at clapham junction.

slurredlines · 31/08/2013 22:24

ImagineJL, I am so sorry.

Original poster
stemstitch · 31/08/2013 22:24

My mother seems to think I can afford to get taxis whenever I come home late - I cannot! She also seems to think getting the tube after 7pm is dangerous. I have tried explaining that the passenger demographic (and volume) is the same whether 8am or 11pm.

OP posts:
Thymeout · 31/08/2013 22:24

If you felt safe, you were safe. You know the area.

Don't worry about what your parents would say. Think how paranoid parents are about their children on here. And you're an adult.

AcrylicPlexiglass · 31/08/2013 22:25

imagine and stemstich, I am very sorry to hear that.:(

Lighthousekeeping · 31/08/2013 22:26

London? Yes. Hull? No.

orangecandy · 31/08/2013 23:18

I've lived in London for 25 years and had lots of very late nights out, I've probably only used a taxi a handful of times as it's fine to take a bus/walk and have never felt unsafe. I am quite lucky as I live centrally enough that there are tons of 24 hr bus routes here, I wouldn't want to walk that distance but only because I'm quite lazy and always jump on the next bus!

Hogwash · 31/08/2013 23:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

marriedinwhiteisback · 31/08/2013 23:40

Funny thing is, I feel much safer now at night in London than I did 25-30 years ago. It's genuinely busier and there are people about on tubes and buses until the services stop for the night. It irks me but I fear far less for my personal safety at 53 than I did at 23. An assailant can have my bag but probably won't want me.

HepsibarCrinkletoes · 31/08/2013 23:48

Yanbu. I live where you walked and wouldn't think twice about doing it. That's not to say I'd stroll through Winstanley or across the common, but I would and have walked home from, say, Northcote to home which is about a mile I suppose.

HepsibarCrinkletoes · 31/08/2013 23:51

MrsDB mine wouldn't bother asking me to pick them up from anywhere as they know they'll be deafened by incredulous laughter.

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 31/08/2013 23:52

I know what you mean! Maybe my extra weight gives me a false sense of security but I almost always feel safe walking around London - at least the bits I walk around in. Holloway or Seven Sisters maybe not so much.

Usually when I get a taxi it's more to do with being bone idle than for any safety reasons Grin

unlucky83 · 01/09/2013 00:02

YANBU - frequently walked around Brixton/Clapham at that time of night and later - including the quieter streets to my house . Never had a problem - always prepared to act 'odd/mad'- sing to self etc..
Later found out when Dsis lived in LA for a while and worked with some model types they did the same ...weirdos don't get hassled!

I was frightened once - trying to get back from Streatham, flagged down a black cab (light was off but I was desperate) - it stopped and the driver was really creeeeepy, about 50 with a fake blond toupee/wig - kept going on about the girls who worked the red light area of Streatham. (I looked nothing like a working girl - jeans and a rugby shirt type look IIRC!) He didn't know the streets around where I lived and then stopped outside my house chatting for 10 mins - more or less suggesting there were more ways of paying for a cab than cash...threw money at him (left a great tip!) and jumped out as soon as he took the door locks off ....ugh!
(Should have taken his number but just too freaked out by the experience - and not many mobiles around then so didn't have one or I would have 'phoned my boyfriend')

ThePeppermintHippo · 01/09/2013 00:15

I think YANBU. That's not really my area but I walk around my part of London at night with no problem (Highbury, Holloway etc) and don't feel too unsafe as usually not too isolated so I would imagine those areas are similar.

nennypops · 01/09/2013 00:22

London is so busy at night these days that it's not that different from how it is in the daytime. I can remember walking through Kennington late at night on a quiet road when it suddenly occurred to me that it wasn't that safe as three tough looking young men came towards me. But all they did was to move aside politely to let me past on a narrow pavement. By contrast I feel more unsafe at night in some of the more upmarket areas of outer London like Kingston and Richmond, just because there are so many people wandering around who have just lurched out of the local pubs and clubs and who are pissed and unpredictable.

FreudiansSlipper · 01/09/2013 00:25

yes i would

have just got home have been out in Brixton and walked part of the way then jumped on a bus

not everywhere in london though if it was too quiet i would not feel safe

EBearhug · 01/09/2013 00:36

I've always walked home alone, wherever I've lived, because I just can't always afford taxis, particularly not when I was younger. I have sometimes changed my route to keep to larger roads, but that's about it. I do remember walking back to my house in London one night, and there was a crowd outside the flats near my house, and the police were there, and it seemed possible a riot was about to break out, but I just walked on by (and a riot didn't break out.) That's about the only time I've felt worried out at night. Even when I've lived in comparatively rough areas, next to the red light district and so on, I've felt okay walking home. But then I suppose if I didn't feel safe somewhere, I wouldn't rent a house there, because I know it needs to be somewhere I can walk back to at night.

An ex-boyfriend was once out in town in Basingstoke with a couple of friends, and some blokes started shouting at them. They ended up having to run away (to the police station, which wasn't far.) I've never experienced anything like that, and I remember reading somewhere that men are more likely to be attacked than women.

Spongingbobsunderpants · 01/09/2013 00:48

It's funny as before kids I wouldn't think twice about walking back in a reasonably busy, well lit area. Since having kids, no way. I've lost my confidence about going out in general I suppose (no family locally, not many baby sitting opportunities in 4 years). I do go out occasionally but I always get a taxi back as it's at least a ten minute walk from the nearest bus stop. When I lived in my old house, I got followed home by someone off a night bus a few years ago whilst dh was away. It's only lucky that my old house was reasonably near the stop and next to a brightly lit railway crossing where there was always a bit of traffic, otherwise, I don't know what would have happened. The guy hung around outside my house for a while until I called the police. I heard him tell the police he used to live with me in the house, so I know his intentions were definitely not good.

AmandaHoldenmigroin · 01/09/2013 03:11

Yalu/yanbu depending on whether you have been attacked before or not. I was also in the 'safe' bubble. I was mugged by a few men waiting in a car. This was in a good area of London and I left a party two minutes before to go home (right round the corner) yep, till then I thought I was safe too.

funkybuddah · 01/09/2013 07:50

Ebearhug in Basingstoke yes you are more likely to be attacked by women where your friend was (the bars etc are just along from the police station) lol

I feel safe most places walking, London, Basingstoke etc. I don't drive so have always had to walk.

Lweji · 01/09/2013 08:08

I have felt safe and slughtly worried in different parts of London at night. Up to 1-2am.

Central-west London is very busy. The city, no.

General safety advice, follow your instincts and be aware of people around you. Cross roads and turn back if you don't feel safe. Walk past your house if necessary.
Prefer the road side of the pavement.
Don't stop talking to anyone, walk past them, but look them in the eye and say something like no, sorry. If you have to stop, do it as you walk past, not in front of them.
Walk fast and determined.

But even if you take a taxi or a bus and at home, you are not 100% safe.

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