Suburban dad here.

It’s not so much that I’m afraid of drug dealers or pedophiles, I know the statistics and it’s barely on my radar.

If my (almost) 7yo asked me if he could ride his bike or walk to a friends house, unattended, I’d probably let him…if it were on our street (1 mile long road that ends in a cul de sac) or the adjacent street (since we can cut through our neighbors yard to get there).

But beyond that? It’s literally miles to the nearest bus stop or store. Even to the nearest park or playground. And while most of that is suburban secondary streets…it’s curvey, it’s hilly, there’s no sidewalk, shoulder, or bike lane, and people drive way too fast on it (and usually setting up their podcasts or checking on their pizza delivery while they’re at it, I assume, by how erratic they are).

I’m terrified to walk on it, at nearly 40. I couldn’t consider letting him ride unattended on it.

People are deathly afraid of kidnappers and drug dealers getting to their children, when in reality crime rates are the lowest they've ever been.