Driving to Florida soon from Ontario, worried and scared

[Gumbo4x4]

I didn't realize we were only allowed to compare two thoughts if they were apples to apples? You can compare two things that are different and still manage to find some common ground.

Depends on how it's done. Thing is, I don't even disagree with most of your points as individual points. I just feel using what I believe to be a poor comparison is only going to hurt the argument more than it helps.

 

[gemini2727]

Up here on the highway it is 100 km per hour but if you are going up to 120 km you most likely won't be stopped. The tripkit that I have from CAA tells you to really watch your speed. Are we allowed to go faster? Also which States are you allowed to turn right on a red?
tigercat

I've been teaching my kids to go with the flow of traffic, on the slower side of course, but not so much slower than everyone else. It really can be a hazard to stick to the speed limit if everyone is going much faster. Here our limit is 55 MPH, but no one drives that slowly. That's all I meant.

 

[Dentam]

Just in the past week - 5 killed at Macys in Washington, pressure cooker bombs in New York City, man killed by police in Charlotte, man killed by police in Tulsa.

As well as mass shootings in Houston and Illinois. It makes you wonder how much worse it will need to get before people start demanding change. I just read a breaking news report that 2015 saw a 4% increase across the U.S. in violent crimes. This was attributed to gun violence in many cities.

 

[LisaR]

Depends on how it's done. Thing is, I don't even disagree with most of your points as individual points. I just feel using what I believe to be a poor comparison is only going to hurt the argument more than it helps.

And honestly, I don't disagree with your points either. You are absolutely right, as I said, it isn't an apples to apples comparison. I'm simply okay with that. We have some standards in place in my state to be able to drive a vehicle. We have very few standards in place to buy a gun. Apples to oranges, apples to orangutans, don't really care. It is exactly what it is.

 

[luvsJack]

Really? Sorry, I'm not planning on giving anyone a list of where I have been.

Are you really that paranoid?

I didn't ask for a list of anything. I asked if you had been in a war zone. A simple yes or no question.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Are you really that paranoid?

I didn't ask for a list of anything. I asked if you had been in a war zone. A simple yes or no question.

I'm not paranoid at all.

I believe that I have answered more than enough questions about me and my life. I don't plan on answering any more. People know more than enough about me, the rest really isn't anyone's business.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I think so much of Americans' perspective on this is dependent on where they're from and their own gun experiences. I've lived in a variety of cities and suburbs and never had an issues with guns and have only truly been afraid for my safety a handful of times. None of those times had anything to do with guns.

I've known exactly one person who was the victim of a violent crime (murder) and that was in Japan, which is arguably one of the safest countries in the world.

 

[luvsJack]

I'm not paranoid at all.

I believe that I have answered more than enough questions about me and my life. I don't plan on answering any more. People know more than enough about me, the rest really isn't anyone's business.

Alrighty then. Not sure what questions have been asked of you, but whatever.

I am going to guess the answer is no, then. Neither have I. But, from the descriptions family members have given me, I would say with 100% certainty that US is far from a war zone.

If the answer is yes, then I stand corrected but I still stand by my statement of the US.

 

[Pooh2]

We are doing a US cross-country road trip in a few months. There are definitely cities that we will not be driving through at night.

When we recently visited Vancouver, there were areas that did not feel safe walking at night as well as lots of street people soliciting money.
Bad stuff happens everywhere, be aware of your surroundings when you travel and you will likely avoid any problems.

OP, stay on the highway and by-pass Charlotte or take a different route altogether if it helps you feel better.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Not gun related but we felt unsafe in San Francisco a few years back. We had just arrived at our hotel near Pier 39 and ventured out to find some dinner. It was not that late but it was Sunday evening in January and many things were closed. We only went a block from our hotel and there were so many people in dumpsters and doorways we turned back and ordered a pizza to the room. The fact that we didn't know the lay of the land didn't help.

Really the only time we have felt unsafe on our travels.

 

[Magpie]

Are you really that paranoid?

I didn't ask for a list of anything. I asked if you had been in a war zone. A simple yes or no question.

She's a secret agent! She's already told you too much.

 

[gwynne]

She's a secret agent! She's already told you too much.

*looks left, looks right* Pssst... The eagle flies at midnight.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

As well as mass shootings in Houston and Illinois. It makes you wonder how much worse it will need to get before people start demanding change. I just read a breaking news report that 2015 saw a 4% increase across the U.S. in violent crimes. This was attributed to gun violence in many cities.

Not to suggest there isn't an issue worth attacking, but generally speaking violent crime in the U.S. Has been trending downward for 20+ years now.

So, maybe at least part of the answer lies in everything we've done "right" so far & expanding on that.

 

[Dentam]

Not to suggest there isn't an issue worth attacking, but generally speaking violent crime in the U.S. Has been trending downward for 20+ years now.

So, maybe at least part of the answer lies in everything we've done "right" so far & expanding on that.

Could be. It just seems that it is getting worse fairly rapidly in the past couple of years.

 

[maxiesmom]

Could be. It just seems that it is getting worse fairly rapidly in the past couple of years.

Or is it you just hear about it more now? The news is happy to pass along bad news from every corner of the globe. With Twitter and Facebook and everything on line, you hear about stuff that you wouldn't have 15 years ago.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Could be. It just seems that it is getting worse fairly rapidly in the past couple of years.

Oh trust me, I get that. These past couple of years I've thought "I really need to get a gun" an awful lot. The bad news just seems to be everywhere. And I'm sure there are parts of the country going the wrong direction, and even specific types of violence that are going up rather than down. It's definitely not all wine & roses despite the overall trend (and especially given the recent UPtick).

 

[Bilberry]

Saw the FBI released new crime statistics today. Crime levels have been decreasing since the 90s, but in the short term we're heading in the wrong direction.

Murders up 10.8% in biggest percentage increase since 1971, FBI data shows

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/26/rate-murder-fbi-increase

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

Several posters have referenced "Americans saying that they're afraid to travel to Mexico" is the same as Canadians saying they're afraid to travel to the U.S. I don't see that as being the same thing at all. There is a standing Mexico Travel Warning from the U.S. State Department. https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/mexico-travel-warning.html
"U.S. citizens have been the victims of violent crimes, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery by organized criminal groups in various Mexican states." I haven't heard of any criminal groups in the U.S. targeting Canadian citizens for any of the above crimes - or any crimes for that matter.

 

[Dentam]

Or is it you just hear about it more now? The news is happy to pass along bad news from every corner of the globe. With Twitter and Facebook and everything on line, you hear about stuff that you wouldn't have 15 years ago.

I'd thought about that too, but I think Bilberry's post above shows that this isn't really the case.

 

[Dentam]

Several posters have referenced "Americans saying that they're afraid to travel to Mexico" is the same as Canadians saying they're afraid to travel to the U.S. I don't see that as being the same thing at all. There is a standing Mexico Travel Warning from the U.S. State Department. https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/mexico-travel-warning.html
"U.S. citizens have been the victims of violent crimes, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery by organized criminal groups in various Mexican states." I haven't heard of any criminal groups in the U.S. targeting Canadian citizens for any of the above crimes - or any crimes for that matter.

Not just Mexico but areas of Europe as well.