Case in point, I travelled with my friends through Serbia during the early 2000's. Now, we'd spoken with our country's foreign ministry, and they told us that it was relatively safe to travel in the North of the country. At the time, we were adviced to avoid the South of Serbia because of small gang clashes still being ongoing. We avoided Romania as well, since a lot of car jackings had been reported at the time.

After driving for a very long time, we got tired, and parked at a forest road in the darkness. It was pitch black, so we figured no one would come there. But after a while, I heard a car stop down at the main road, and two guys moving closer to our car on the gravel. This prompted me to reach for a small screw driver I had laying around, just in case.

When they arrived at the car, they knocked on my window, and peering to the darkness I noticed that they were actually police officers. They wanted to know what we were doing there, so I explained to them that we were just trying to get some sleep for the night.

Then they asked me, "Did you see the boarded-up gas station further up the road?" I nodded, and he continued. "Yeah, well, last week a gang came by there and shot the whole family dead, mother, father and two kids. That's why the place is boarded up. Listen, guys, this place isn't safe. So please come with us, and we'll show you a lit parking lot in the nearest town. You can sleep safely there, under the lights."

Needless to say, we accepted their escort, although it was far more easy to sleep in the darkness rather than under a street light.

Then there's the story of my boss who ignored advice to not go to Egypt during some troubled times, and ended up in a firefight as the bus in front of him was lit up by a hail bullets. He thought he was going to die, and he very well could have if he'd gone with the front bus.

I initially interpreted that sentence differently than how you probably intended it.