My mom's so paranoid she won't let my sister ride the bus next year because that's where the drug deals happen. I rode the bus for 2 years in high school and am still as clean as can be. I'm pretty sure my sister would just beat someone up if they tried to sell her anything.
Mom also won't let me go to a close friend's graduation party because he's a boy! His parents will be there, so will a lot of people. But nope, he's a boy...so I can't go...
When I first started driving to school on my own I was supposed to call home when I got there (even though by that time it was just my stepdad home), and call before I left school. At least now that's changed, but it stayed like that until it started bugging my stepdad and he told mom to knock it off.
As for the left hand turn thing, I plan my route so I have to take as few as possible. I got hit making a left hand turn, and it's not an experience I'd like to repeat anytime soon. Now I do make lefts, but they're generally at a traffic light or stop sign. There are only a couple that have neither, but they're in areas where you can see for miles, so I don't have to worry about not seeing the person coming.