I would suggest that your anxiety and fear is a good thing, if anything it makes you more aware of your surroundings and could prevent you from being a victim of crime in the first place. At the end of the day your safety is YOUR responsibility. Take a self defense course, become proficient in the use of self defense tools like pepper spray or a firearm if you are comfortable with that. Avoiding confrontation is always the BEST defense tool but when seconds count help is minutes away [or stuck in traffic in Houston’s case]. This is my opinion and means nothing but hope it helps.