How safe is United States for travelers?

Getting the risk in proportion

The United States is a safe country for tourists in the places tourists actually go, and the crime statistics that alarm foreign readers are concentrated in specific neighbourhoods of specific cities.

• Road traffic is far and away the most likely thing to hurt you. The US road death rate is roughly double that of western Europe.
• Car break-ins are the crime you are genuinely likely to meet. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and Oakland are notorious. Leave nothing visible in a parked car, ever, including in the boot if you were seen putting it there.
• Firearms are legal and common. The practical consequence for a visitor is simple: do not escalate anything. Road rage, arguments in bars and confrontations over parking are not worth it here in a way they might be at home.
• Know which neighbourhoods to avoid, ask at your hotel, and be aware that this changes street by street rather than district by district.

The scams

• Fake ESTA sites, charging USD 80 to USD 150 for a USD 40.27 government form. The most expensive scam most visitors meet.
• Ticket touts and fake tour sellers around Times Square, Fisherman's Wharf and the Las Vegas Strip.
• Costumed characters demanding payment after posing for a photograph.
• Taxi drivers at airports taking the long way, which is why a metered rideshare with a quoted fare is safer.
• ATM skimming on standalone machines in bars, petrol stations and convenience stores.
• The "free" CD or bracelet pressed into your hand and then charged for aggressively.

Nature will kill you faster than crime

• Hurricane season runs June to November on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, peaking August to October, which is now.
• Wildfire season runs roughly June to November in the west, and smoke affects areas hundreds of miles from any fire.
• Tornadoes in the central states, mostly spring into early summer.
• Heat in the desert southwest is lethal. People die in Death Valley and around Phoenix every year, usually on short walks they thought were easy.
• Wildlife in the national parks is not tame. Bison injure more Yellowstone visitors than bears do, because people walk up to them.
• Follow the National Weather Service and local emergency alerts, and take evacuation orders literally.

Interactions with police

• Keep your hands visible and do not get out of the car unless told to.
• Say you are a foreign visitor. It changes the tone of most encounters.
• Do not argue at the roadside. Arguments are for later and elsewhere.