Before you leave
Charge your phone, and carry a card and a little cash in a separate pocket from it. Share your live location with a trusted friend for the evening. Agree with the people you are going out with that you arrive together and leave together, and that nobody leaves alone without saying so. Decide on the ride home in advance, whether that is a designated driver, the last train or a hired car, because decisions made at one in the morning are worse.
On the street
Walk on lit, populated streets even when the route is longer, and keep your head up and your phone in your pocket. Leave one ear free of headphones. At a cash machine, choose one inside a bank lobby or a busy store. Have your keys in hand before you reach your door or your car. If you think someone is following you, cross the street and change direction. If they follow again, do not go home. Walk into any open business, tell the staff, and call 911.
Rides and drinks
- Match the license plate, the car and the driver's photo to the app before you open the door.
- Ask the driver to tell you the name of the passenger instead of offering yours.
- Sit in the back seat, and share the trip with a friend through the app.
- Watch your drink being poured, keep it in your hand, and get a fresh one if you ever left it unattended.
- Treat feeling far more intoxicated than your drinks explain as an emergency. Tell a friend or the staff, stay with people you trust, and call 911 if you feel faint, confused or unable to stay awake.
If someone confronts you
In a robbery, hand over the phone or wallet. Property is replaceable, and resistance is how a theft becomes an injury. Your aim is distance: comply, move away, get to light and people, then call 911. If a person wants to move you somewhere else, the advice changes, and making noise, running and fighting are all justified.
A self-defense class is worthwhile chiefly for teaching you to react instead of freezing. Laws on carrying pepper spray vary by state, so check yours. None of this makes a crime the fault of the person it happens to. These habits only tilt the odds.
Tip Text the friends you were out with when you get home, and expect the same from them. A message that fails to arrive is how someone gets looked for early.
