I wonder why this changed. Is it that people have become more aware of dangers? Or perhaps parents are having fewer children and being more protective?
So why would you keep him from exploring and learning how to take care of himself alone and with friends?
I know that my hometown has a LOT more cars than it did when I was growing up in spite of the fact that the population has actually declined.
And car accidents is probably one of the statistics that hasn't declined.
And it seems like many communities have quietly lost pedestrians (it seems like baby boomers are atypically car-dependent compared to the generations before and after them but they're a huge generation and the biggest one in many places).