I was living out in West Hollywood when a Hollywood
strangler was strangling women.
Every night there was a panel discussion on TV about
the strangler, speculations about his habits,
his motives, his methods. One thing was clear about
him: he only strangled women when they were alone,
or with other women. And the panel members would always
end the show by saying:
Now for all you women, listen: don't go outside without
a man. Don't walk out to your car,
don't even take the garbage out by yourself; always go with a man.

Then, one of the eyewitnesses identified a policeman
as one of the suspects. The next night,
the chief of the police was on the panel, and he said:

Now for all you women, whatever happens,
do not stop for a police officer,
stay in your car. If a police officer tries to stop
you, do not stop, keep driving and under no circumstances
should you get out of your car.

For a few weeks, half the traffic in LA was doing twice the speed limits.