We are back with our “Is it Safe?” series,
following shows on China, Russia, Mexico, and Syria. Today’s show might be the most controversial
yet, given that many of our viewers are American. If you’re an outsider or have never visited
the U.S., you might think every day is fraught with dangers, given how parts of the country
are often portrayed in movies and documentaries as hives of criminality and daily violence. The prisons are overflowing and no country
locks up so many of its citizens, while the police themselves are often seen in viral
videos seemingly beating down people with extreme prejudice. Add to that political divisions, high school
massacres, organized crime, seemingly more gangs than zip codes, and America might look
to some like an unsafe place. Today we’ll find out if that’s true, in
this episode of the Infographics Show, Is it safe: To Live in the USA. First of all, as we told you in our other
shows about a country’s safety, how much danger you might face as a visitor or a resident
all depends on where you live and what kind of lifestyle you have. Someone visiting Pleasant Grove, Utah, to
see the Strawberry Days festival will no doubt be in safer hands than someone going to Baltimore
with the express intention of getting in on the local heroin dealing scene. We will talk about some parts of the country,
but look more at general statistics, what the media says, and what governments say about
visiting the USA. As we’ve looked so many times at what the
American government says about visiting other countries, let’s now see what other governments
say about the safety of America. The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office
opens its section about the U.S. with something about volcanos going off in Hawaii, but we
are not too concerned about that. Visitors to the US have as much chance of
being cooked in hot lava as a piano falling on their head from a high building. “Around 3.8 million British nationals visit
the United States every year. Most visits are trouble free,” we are told. So, what other dangers are there? Terrorism could occur anywhere and attacks
are indiscriminate. You might contract the Zika virus in Florida
or Texas, or you might have to watch out for Hurricane season in some parts of the country. But again, these are small concerns. What about crime? Well, according to the FCO, very few visitors
have been involved in America’s notorious gang/gun crimes, although some have been caught
up in drug-related violence close to the Mexican border. Brits are also told to not walk into areas
off the beaten path in big cities alone at night, but on the whole, unlike many countries
the FCO talks about, the U.S. has no extreme warnings for Brit visitors. The Australian government mirrors that opinion:
if you exercise normal safety precautions, i.e. don’t go looking for trouble, the USA
poses no great risk for travelers. Again, a handful of terrorist attacks are
mentioned, and gun crime is also mentioned. You are also warned to read about the place
you will be visiting regarding crime, but you are told visitors are very rarely the
target of violence in the U.S. So, looking at those sites, you might think
the USA is a very safe place to visit. But how much crime exists in the country? After all, OECD data for 2018 tells us America
locks up more of its population than any other country by a large margin. It’s said that in 2018, for every 100,000
people in the USA, 655 people are imprisoned. Prison Policy tells us, “The American criminal
justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons,
1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails.” By the way, the UK locks up 138 people for
every 100,000, and that was the 14th placed country on the list. In second place was Turkey at 287 per 100,000. Does this mean America is unsafe, though,
or are too many people in prison for small non-violent crimes? Let’s look at violence. If you compare world homicide rates, the USA
has nothing on countries like Venezuela, El Salvador, Jamaica, Brazil, and its next-door
neighbor, Mexico. The FBI hasn’t yet released its full report
for 2017, but in 2016, it says regarding murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, there were
5.4 instances per 100,000 people. Assaults were 250.6 per 100,000. Rapes were 25.1 or 41.2 per 100,000, depending
on legacy definition and revised definition, respectively. If we compare the murder rate to those countries
we mentioned before, it is very low in the USA. Mexico is around four times higher, and Venezuela
is around 18 times higher. But what about other developed countries? The UK murder rate was 1.2 per 100,000 in
2016. In fact, most developed nations hover around
1 per 100,000, so you could say the U.S. murder rate is very high given how developed it is
and how rich it is. In terms of rich countries regarding GDP,
China has a low murder rate, and India has a low-mid murder rate ( at 3.2 per 100,000). Russia and Brazil are two other rich nations
with high murder rates. If you really want to stay out of the way
of violent crimes in the USA, maybe don’t go where they are most prevalent. FBI data tells us where those places are. 1. Baltimore, Maryland (at 98.6 violent crimes
per 10,000 people). 2. Memphis, Tennessee (at 97.4 violent crimes
per 10,000 people). 3. St. Louis, Missouri (at 91.5 violent crimes
per 10,000 people). 4. Little Rock, Arkansas (at 87.4 violent crimes
per 10,000 people). 5. Birmingham, Alabama (at 86.1 violent crimes
per 10,000 people). Are those rates of violence high? It depends on how we define violence. We guess it’s all kinds of violence that
ended with an arrest. If so, the 2017 stats for London, UK, where
street fights are common, we are told for every 1,000 people, there were 22 violent
crimes. That’s 220 per 10,000. And who would not visit Buckingham Palace
because they thought London was unsafe….no one. So, perhaps the USA is not all that dangerous
if indeed you don’t do anything stupid. What about where all the people want to visit? Statistics tell us that New York City and
Los Angeles are the most visited cities in the USA. Are you safe to visit those places? Most websites seem to think so, even though
we are told there are some areas you perhaps might want to miss when out alone at night. Walk of New York says crime is way down in
NYC, and forget about all those old movies that depict the city as a hotbed of violent
crime. We are told violence against tourists is very,
very rare. One person on Tripadvisor was concerned about
walking the streets at night. A New Yorker responded as follows: “Your
family should stop watching crime TV shows and movies. You have nothing to worry about.” Other respondents didn’t disagree. What about LA? Surely this city is full of hidden dangers. Well, some websites do say you might avoid
Skid Row or a night walk alone in South Central, but still the website Safe Around doesn’t
give LA a high danger rating in any categories. A Brit asked on Tripadvisor in 2016 if he
would be safe wandering around LA at night. One person replied, “You'll have wandered
into dodgier areas of Blackpool more times than you're ever likely to wander into a dodgy
area of LA!” Most people said it is safe, but being so
large, just check out where you are visiting and be sensible. That way you’ll almost definitely stay out
of harm’s way. While there are still certainly many Boys
in the Hood, it’s generally thought LA is safe on the whole. We even looked at warnings for the popular
Venice Beach, and the website warned us about ear infections from swimming… it didn’t
mention getting held at knife point by skinheads or shot to ribbons for your shoes. One person on Tripadvisor did say it wasn’t
safe at night, though. Again, we think if you exercise caution, many
of LA’s hotspots should be fine. Ok, let’s not paint too much of pretty picture
here. In 2018, Reuters wrote that the USA came 10th
in a poll of countries in the world where women “risked sexual violence, harassment
and coercion into sex.” PBS opens a story in 2017 stating, “Racism
remains a prevalent problem in the United States.” But that was based on a poll about how people
think, and not necessarily related to aggression. In general, it’s thought the USA is LGBT
friendly, but a 2017 article in the New York Times points out that that isn’t the case
in all parts of the country. What the story was referring to though was
how LGBT people have more rights and are protected by more laws in some states than in others. Hostel World tells us New York City and Washington
DC are very LGBT friendly, but many cities in the USA should be ok. If you want to drive from city to city, is
it dangerous to do that in the USA? In 2016 there were 11.59 deaths per 100,000
people in the US. How does that compare to other countries? Well, it’s a bit like the murder rate, it’s
quite high for a developed country but not so high compared to nations that don’t have
the same advanced infrastructure and modern law enforcement. We might add that if you come from a small
nation, driving on some of the USA’s highways for the first time can be a little scary. Driving around LA for instance can get confusing. As for other dangers, you won’t get malaria,
although there’s a minuscule chance of contracting dengue fever in some states. It’s nothing to worry about, though. Depending on where you are, you could also
get eaten by a bear or an alligator, bitten by a rattlesnake or a black widow spider,
or have your leg munched on by a great white shark. But Jaws was just a movie and we can say again
that these things might happen to you as much as that piano might drop on your head. So, in conclusion, we think that the dangers
present in America are much less than movies and TV might have you think. There certainly is a lot of gun crime for
such an advanced country, but much of that happens in certain areas, and visitors are
unlikely to get caught up in it. If you don’t exercise caution and decide
to run wild, you might find yourself in trouble, but if you take it easy, you should have no
problems in the U.S. As for where the country comes on our danger
list. We think the list now goes like this, from
safest to most dangerous:
1. China, 2. USA, 3. Russia. 3. Mexico. 4. Syria. So, do you agree with this list? Do you take issue with what we’ve said in
this show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
called Could You Be a Police Officer?! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
