5 ms·

To play devils advocate for a bit, London is an incredibly safe city at night compared to say Paris or Rome or Madrid or Amsterdam. I’m pretty sure part of that

To play devils advocate for a bit, London is an incredibly safe city at night compared to say Paris or Rome or Madrid or Amsterdam. I’m pretty sure part of that is down to the staggering amount of cameras

anthk 5y ago
How is Madrid unsafe? Have you even been there? As if London didn't have its own and huge pack of chavs...
- mikepurvis 5y ago
  I was in Madrid a few years ago— it was just for a weekend conference, but my flight was 12h delayed leaving, so I ended up getting a pretty long unplanned walk around the city. I felt very safe there, though I think the biggest thing was how insanely courteous the motorists were. Compared to North America where even when the signal is on your side you have to watch for a gap in turning cars and dart across the street, in Madrid I would just be walking up to a crosswalk and cars would already be voluntarily coming to a complete stop to wait for me to begin and then fully finish crossing. Night and day difference.
chrismcb 5y ago
I've traveled the world, the place I felt the least safe was London. Perhaps it was because they have signs all over the place warning you about pickpockets.
Tepix 5y ago
Source?
int_19h 5y ago
Conversely, if you actually do get attacked in London, you better be real careful to not accidentally hurt your attacker: "There are products which squirt a relatively safe, brightly coloured dye (as opposed to a pepper spray). A properly designed product of this nature, used in the way it is intended, should not be able to cause an injury. However, if injury does occur, this may be assault. ... The only fully legal self defence product at the moment is a rape alarm. " (https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q589.htm https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q589.htm)
- trasz 5y ago
  Not true. What is true that you cannot use products designed to hurt, ie weapons.
  - voakbasda 5y ago
    So pepper spray would be illegal? That’s insane.
    - JadeNB 5y ago
      It looks like they explicitly call out pepper spray in your GP's quote (emphasis mine): > There are products which squirt a relatively safe, brightly coloured dye (as opposed to a pepper spray).
    - int_19h 5y ago
      It is an illegal "offensive weapon", yes. The way UK defines "offensive weapon", literally anything is one if you have intent to use it against somebody, even in self-defense: "any article made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person, or intended by the person having it with him for such use by him or by some other person ... even if they have some other legitimate use e.g. car keys held between the knuckles" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offensive_weapon#England_and_Wales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offensive_weapon#England_and_W...)
    - trasz 5y ago
      It is illegal. It probably does sound insane if you believe that carrying weapons can improve safety and not simply escalate violence. To me it’s a pretty sound policy.
      - LocalH 5y ago
        So, someone being attacked should just let it happen instead of fight back?
        5y ago

anthk 5y ago

How is Madrid unsafe? Have you even been there? As if London didn't have its own and huge pack of chavs...

mikepurvis 5y ago
I was in Madrid a few years ago— it was just for a weekend conference, but my flight was 12h delayed leaving, so I ended up getting a pretty long unplanned walk around the city. I felt very safe there, though I think the biggest thing was how insanely courteous the motorists were. Compared to North America where even when the signal is on your side you have to watch for a gap in turning cars and dart across the street, in Madrid I would just be walking up to a crosswalk and cars would already be voluntarily coming to a complete stop to wait for me to begin and then fully finish crossing. Night and day difference.

chrismcb 5y ago

I've traveled the world, the place I felt the least safe was London. Perhaps it was because they have signs all over the place warning you about pickpockets.

Tepix 5y ago

Source?

int_19h 5y ago

Conversely, if you actually do get attacked in London, you better be real careful to not accidentally hurt your attacker: "There are products which squirt a relatively safe, brightly coloured dye (as opposed to a pepper spray). A properly designed product of this nature, used in the way it is intended, should not be able to cause an injury. However, if injury does occur, this may be assault. ... The only fully legal self defence product at the moment is a rape alarm. " (https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q589.htm https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q589.htm)

trasz 5y ago
Not true. What is true that you cannot use products designed to hurt, ie weapons.
- voakbasda 5y ago
  So pepper spray would be illegal? That’s insane.
  - JadeNB 5y ago
    It looks like they explicitly call out pepper spray in your GP's quote (emphasis mine): > There are products which squirt a relatively safe, brightly coloured dye (as opposed to a pepper spray).
  - int_19h 5y ago
    It is an illegal "offensive weapon", yes. The way UK defines "offensive weapon", literally anything is one if you have intent to use it against somebody, even in self-defense: "any article made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person, or intended by the person having it with him for such use by him or by some other person ... even if they have some other legitimate use e.g. car keys held between the knuckles" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offensive_weapon#England_and_Wales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offensive_weapon#England_and_W...)
  - trasz 5y ago
    It is illegal. It probably does sound insane if you believe that carrying weapons can improve safety and not simply escalate violence. To me it’s a pretty sound policy.
    - LocalH 5y ago
      So, someone being attacked should just let it happen instead of fight back?
      - 5y ago