Here's the thing: It doesn't matter how comfortable you are, you're not the child's parent.

I walked to school alone when I was 4, crossing several streets. I bicycled when I was 5. This was typical of the time.

Really depends on the kind of upbringing of the child. In Mongolia 5 year olds are teaching their younger siblings how to ride a reindeer.

I don't know how old you are, so maybe you've forgot how it's like to be that old, but by 7 you're way past that age... crossing streets is not like going to war..

I think this is probably the reason why these cases come up

people age and then they think that a 10 year old is a toddler, and then they enforce that belief upon them

Not at all. We all did it when I was child that age in the 80s.