How do the high crime areas in the UK actually compare to the US?

if you go to the wrong place in Britain you might get beaten up or stabbed, but you're probably fine if you don't piss anyone off, just hand over a phone on request. Driving through isn't really a problem. Parts of US cities may mean to be similar, but the existence of guns means innocent passers-by risk getting caught in crossfire, literally. So even driving past could be a problem. These parts of US cities are pretty small and there's no reason any tourist would want to go there, but the concept of telling visitors to ensure they don't take the wrong exit off the highway because you really don't want to drive through X just doesn't exist in the UK. You are less likely to get your phone stolen in America, though.