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> Someone skipping fare

This, obviously, isn't what raises fear in people. "Safer" for some statistics, like a car crash, but also much less safe for things like getting stabbed, spit on, confronted. Sure, it's somewhat rare on public transport, but they're exactly zero in my car, at freeway speeds.

edit: A quick google search shows two stabbings, one slit throat, and a page full of fights, in my area, over the last two years. While the statistics are low, in terms of per person*miles, this real difference, and the 2hr vs 30 minute times, is what keeps people and families in cars. Fundamental changes are needed.



I may never get stabbed in my car, but I will get brake-checked, cut off, buzzed, rammed, and shot at [0]. Driving is stressful and I dread every getting on the highway.

[0]: https://everytownresearch.org/reports-of-road-rage-shootings...


Everytown is definitely a biased source to use


You can still get shot on a train.


> things like getting stabbed, spit on, confronted

Also how much fentanyl and methamphetamine smoke do you inhale/touch everyday in your car? Compared to public transit

https://www.washington.edu/news/2023/09/07/uw-assessment-fin...

>> Researchers detected methamphetamine in 98% of surface samples and 100% of air samples, while fentanyl was detected in 46% of surface and 25% of air samples.


What's funny is over-policing public transit would probably take only a fraction of the resources that private transportation does.


> two stabbings, one slit throat, and a page full of fights, in my area, over the last two years

That's basically nothing next to car accidents. Car accident injuries can be pretty gruesome. Maybe the fundamental change that is needed is awareness of the risks of driving and the yearly death/mutilation toll in each community. (And the awareness that bigger and bigger SUVs with higher and higher bumpers is a zero-sum game.)


Sure, but when family is in the car, I drive in the slow lane, to help protect them. When family is on the metro, wtf am I supposed to do, beyond maybe a pocket knife on my belt? I took my family on the metro exactly once, and never again, after a younger one almost stepped on a syringe, and a homeless guy was rambling about hiding in a dumpster.

If you're a guy taking a ride, sure. Otherwise, get real.


Surely you can do something to give yourself an illusion of control on the metro just like you do on the freeway.


I can assure you, I don't place used needles, or feces, in my car, which are the statistically significant threats that I've faced.




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