I think it’s safer out in the boonies today than ever before.
Why?
One main reason: cell phones.
I’m talking both regular safety (against injury and emergency) and in terms of security.
I bike around the roads of this area quite a bit. I used to get a threat of assault about once a month. Now it’s only once a year. Why? Because the cowards are afraid of cell phones. Thank heavens!
I think there are other big factors at play, too. As follows…
*For bikers, a big improvement is due to fenceless electric systems for dogs. It’s really improved what used to be a wretched aspect of biking.
*For general security, I have a notion that the growth of personal security systems has had good effects. More people carry pepper spray, and the amazing new one-hander knives, and also have concealed weapons permits…and big-power handguns have gotten much smaller in size.
But I suppose the main factor to improve safety and security by far is the cell phone.
I wonder if hitch-hiking would now even be quite a bit safer also thanks to cells. —At the same time, I would assert that hitch-hiking has always been quite safe. I still hear about how dangerous it is. Just like I heard back in the 80’s when I hitched a lot. “But it’s so much more dangerous NOW than even then!” —ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS said by people who know NOTHING actually about which they speak: meaning, they’ve never had a bad time hitching because they’ve never tried. Morons. All the same, I wonder about the stats on assaults on hitchers. Such info kept anywhere? Probably not. Just the way I like it: real culture can never be measured. : ) With gas prices so high now people really should start hitching more now than ever. Right? Right!
