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I take transit a lot and many times of the day and while I've seen all of these things, most of the time you see harmless stuff. Mostly it's teens (kids who can't drive yet), doing dumb things like drawing graffiti on a map or putting silly stickers on things. Occasionally someone smelling like booze and weed ends up on the train. Someone who hasn't showered in... days gets on. Sometimes you notice a person who is obviously not fully there and talks to themselves a lot or mumbles and shouts with no pretext. Occasionally you see a person with untreated visible medical conditions (like an abscess). If you have headphones in or have a book in your face, you probably won't even notice what's happening. The numbers back these up as it's statistically much safer to take transit in most places than drive. I do have friends in the suburbs though, so I know there are folks who find safety and comfort in appearances. And for some folks they find genuine solace in their car which is fine.

You don't even _know_ who you're driving next to on a freeway. The driver next to you may be driving home dead tired, "microsleep"ing along the way. They could be very drunk, trying desperately to get home and crawl into bed. Maybe they got fired at their workplace cause they were on meth. Someone driving might have a seizure and lose control of their vehicle. You can just look at traffic crash statistics; the US is the worst developed country for traffic incidents by far. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean their conditions don't actually exist.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see America pay actual attention to the folks with these physical and medical conditions, and the fact that we don't is terrible. But stuffing them into cars or forcing them to an underclass where they can't drive isn't the answer. And it's not particularly unsafe to take transit.

>I just can't imagine living life in this much fear

>You don't make eye contact and keep to yourself, and nothing happens to you.

This sounds like you are living your life in fear.

Oh please. Making eye contact is a surefire way to draw the attention of someone who is acting erratically. If you have the time and will to engage directly with every single one of these people, then be my guest. But to call this living in fear is laughable to anyone who's ever spent an appreciable amount of time commuting via public transit.

If there are people erratic enough to be a source of danger from mere eye contact, thats a good reason to be carrying concealed.

I don't think "danger" is the right word. Sure, you might run into someone who could physically attack you if you act toward them in a way that sets them off, but I think most would either just act out (without actually touching you), or yell at you, or something like that.

No, it's not great, and I wish our elected representatives would actually do things to fix these situations, but the idea of "I need to carry a gun" to solve this "problem" is just bonkers.

Someone mentally unstable yelling at me is not a worry, it's not their fault. I had misunderstood the statement to mean that eye contact was enough to warrant a physical confrontation with violence. I agree with you yelling and such doesn't necessitate a gun.

US is not the place to be if you want to tell others how to live their lives…

I'm not living my life in fear by doing that, I'm just aware of the fact from learned experience that people on meth tend to not react well to the fact that someone might be staring at them, and that there is also a certain type of person in public who tries to draw confrontations. This is being realistic. I don't stare at my feet at everyone who walks into the train, but there are some characters who you are wise to not do anything to draw their conversation, and its often pretty obvious who they are the second they step foot on the transit vehicle (e.g. the one looking for fights will be posturing the minute they are on the train and accosting people).

Isn't that like saying a minefield is the same as any other field as long as you know where the land mines are and step around them? At the end of the day is it that surprising that people choose to walk somewhere else?

You can see where the mines are, it's the guy in the back of the car muttering to himself about Dr. Phil ejaculating in the water supply. Don't step on him.

These "landmines" you speak of aren't stationary targets. They can walk up to you.

Breaking news, man on subway car capable of locomotion.

No, it's more like I am aware that a bear is not a big large cuddly cat, and when one approaches I act appropriately.

It would be quite appropriate to fear a bear.

The idea of successfully suing the city over transit crime is almost as laughable as people's overblown fear of being a transit crime victim.

See Lozito v. New York City.

I'm not sure about NYC, but it does happen at least in California.

https://okhovatlawfirm.com/train-accidents/whos-liable-if-yo...

https://hhjtrialattorneys.com/domestic-violence-in-californi...

https://trellis.law/rulings/%22LOS-ANGELES-COUNTY-METROPOLIT...