I sold/gave my precious, perfectly maintained car to my daughter, who hit a deer with it and totalled it.
At least she didn't get hurt.

Well, we definitely burned that bridge, and it has worked out great for me.
I have a 7.5 mile commute, day and night (I work two nights a week), regardless of weather.
I ride every day and night, whether rain, snow, sleet or hail.
It sorta makes me sad as I roll up to work and realize my ride has ended.
Twelve miles sounds nice, now that I know more about how to dress for the weather.

We don't have any bad neighborhoods here.
Oh, we have apartment complexes they call "Felony Flats" and stuff like that, but nothing too scary.
We do have 1.5 murders every year, so I guess that counts as something.

When I first returned to riding, sometimes bad boys in pickup trucks would say rude things as they passed me, and it would scare/startle me a little, and I'd get angry, too.
I think something in my body language gave me away as an unsure newbie and I attracted verbal bullies.
Dogs would hassle me, too.

Now I have a lot more confidence, and I know I ride differently and look less like a victim.
Dogs don't hassle me anymore and I hardly ever get a rude remark from wannabe tough guys.
The other night, though, in a super snowstorm, a car stopped and the driver rolled down his window and called me an "effing moron."
He didn't know it, but he really made my day.

Get good lights.
A fellow commuter got a nice helmet mounted 10 watt light and battery for under a hundred, and it makes a huge difference in comfort and safety at night.
I ride with a 10 watt helmet light and I can see and avoid all the crud on the road and I never outride my lights (the world formerly got kinda floaty when I went faster than my lights).

I say ride fast and don't let the bad guys engage you.
Ignore them and ride with one of those itty bitty baseball bats sticking out of your pack until you start projecting enough confidence so that they don't see you as a victim.