Statistics don't seem to matter - there is a conception that unlit, lonely places are more dangerous. Not because they necessarily are, but because it seems likely that they are.

I decided some time ago that I'd prefer the potential risk of an attack to the definite downside of living my life in a scared, hedged-in manner. I take an awful lot of flak for this from an awful lot of people.

It is likely that one day I will be mugged. Assuming I live to tell the tale, I will report it to the police and then not whinge - I will have had a lot of very nice, moonlit walks down the towpath near my home, and I will have had the freedom to walk across cities by myself, and I think that's fair exchange.