Everyone might need street smart tips to make themselves safe while on the street. Sometimes strangers might cause a problem or live in such complicated cities are already a problem. A Reddit user asked, “What are the best ‘street smart’ tips you can give?” and here are 28 of the responses. To prevent some problems, these street smart tips might be useful for you.
1.
If you feel things are about to take a turn for the worse, leave.
2.
If you get arrested, shut the f**k up. Ask for a lawyer, and then shut the f**k up. And when a lawyer shows up, shut the f**k up
3.
Always walk on the side of the road that opposes traffic. This puts distance between you and a car that might be trying to follow you
4.
Trust your gut. Your subconscious can notice details your conscious mind doesn’t. Don’t be afraid of making a scene to keep yourself safe
5.
I am female, these are tips to make you appear stronger as a female on the street (walking home, nighttime subway, etc):
If you think you are being followed or if you hear somebody behind you – feel free to turn around and look directly at them because it shows you are not afraid to be aware of your surroundings.
By the same measure, don’t be afraid (generally) to meet people’s eyes. Not in a confrontational “yeah? WHAT!?” sort of way, but in a “I am seeing the people in my world” sort of engaged and aware way.
This shows you do not fear engaging your surroundings.
Again – this is to show you are capable, this is not to provoke or antagonize – that’s a different, defensive posture.
6.
Do not engage with crazy.
If they address you directly, still don’t engage
7.
Basically, just be aware of your surroundings. A lack of situational awareness can lead to some bad things.
8.
Use windows as mirrors to see your blind spots or to check behind you. Literally every window you walk past, you should take a quick glance to know what’s going on in your blind spots. You can almost completely get rid of blind spots altogether because of windows.
9.
If someone is attempting to take you to a secondary location by car or something, fight like your life depends on it, because it does. Poke their eyes out. Punch them in the testicles. Bite them, scratch them, anything you can think of, do it to get yourself free. There are no rules when it comes to this situation. Some specific things you can do are screaming ‘Fire!’ Or ‘Help my child!’ This will catch more attention than just plain ‘Help.’
10.
Don’t walk into the street texting, tweeting, meme-ing, etc. I’ve seen people walking straight into traffic because of this
