• CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Yeah. I have friends that won’t even let their kids walk a quarter mile to school, in one of the safest communities in the entire state. It’s insane. The media has put the fear of “but what if…” into so many people.

    You’ve got better odds winning the lottery than what these people are afraid of. Be smart, be savvy, be aware of your surroundings and watch out for the oblivions as you go about your business. But there’s no need to be afraid of everything around you.

    • asteriskeverything@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      In that situation I’m concerned about other drivers, and also the child not paying attention while staring at their phone. I have seen sooo many teens just step off the curb and walk across the street without even looking up from their phone. Stranger Danger would have nothing to do with it.

      There needs to be a better balance between the latch key kid independence/responsibility and the absolute lack of trust in your kids and your community to just not be child kidnapping murderers???

      • vividspecter@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        Fixing transport infrastructure would have the most impact. Narrower roads with fewer lanes and more complexity, 20mph/30kmph speed limits, better designed pedestrian crossings, and separated bike and pedestrian infrastructure. And requiring the vehicles themselves to be designed such that they are not just safe for the occupants, but safe for other vehicles and people too (which means lower hood heights and lower weight).

        And in general, providing viable alternatives to driving so there are less vehicles on the road, making it safer to walk and bike.

        • daltotron@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          but safe for other vehicles and people too (which means lower hood heights and lower weight).

          Small note on this, but better crash compatibility and an upper weight limit might also increase the relative safety of bicycles, motorcycles, and even potentially some larger local wildlife, on top of just increasing safety for pedestrians and people driving relatively smaller cars, like sedans.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        The whole way our society is built is not around pedestrian safety or teaching it to children.

        My daughter is growing up in a subdivision with low traffic and no sidewalks and I have to regularly remind her to look both ways when crossing the streets when we’re elsewhere because it’s just not something she has to do all the time.

        There’s room for sidewalks, they just didn’t build them. If there were sidewalks, it would be far easier for her to remember to do it every time.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      You’ve got better odds winning the lottery than what these people are afraid of. Be smart, be savvy, be aware of your surroundings and watch out for the oblivions as you go about your business. But there’s no need to be afraid of everything around you.

      Awareness prevents the vast majority of dangerous situations. Carrying is actually more likely to escalate situations into being dangerous than not. even a basic situational awareness will keep you far safer than a fire arm ever will.

    • bufordt@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      I agree that people shouldn’t be afraid of this stuff, but I think you underestimate the odds of winning the lottery and your chances of being murdered.

      Around 32,000 homicides/year in the US. 333,000,000 people, so about 1 in 100,000.

      Powerball odds are 1 in 292,000,000.

      • nonfuinoncuro@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        the distribution is different though, if you buy a powerball ticket you have the same odds as everyone else who bought one assuming the numbers are equally distributed and truly random

        the difference between living in Biden’s suburban neighborhood in Delaware vs west Philly or Baltimore is huge

        • bufordt@sh.itjust.works
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          8 months ago

          Sure, but nowhere is the chance of winning the lottery greater than the chance of getting murdered. Even Singapore, which has the lowest homicide rate, is around 1 in 1,000,000.

          I suppose if you classified getting a playback prize on a scratch off as a lottery win, but I doubt most people count that.