The way the OP poses the her query raises a number of interesting issues, but, for now, I'd like to ask: What have you done to ensure your safety for the past 13 years when 1) driving in the area and 2) when walking in the area? (I'm presuming the "sketchy" area is near your place of work?)

To be sure, driving, biking and walking are all different in terms of personal safety issues, but the strategies one needs to employ aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

Cheers,

JT

P.S. As for the TKD guy who says getting kicked in the nuts doesn't hurt immediately, may I humbly suggest that that's because a TKD guy was doing the kicking? (...just a little martial arts smack talk.:>) ...but seriously, if you kick hard enough, there are a lot of targets that will buy you useful time during an attack, but theory and practice aren't always the same thing...)