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By that age I was regularly taking self guided trips miles from home (the four miles walk to the public library was a standard).
I also rode my bike without a helmet. Sat in the car without a seatbelt. Climbed trees without wearing a parachute. And jumped off an overpass into a 15 foot wide creek that was probably only 10 feet deep. And mom left us in the car while she ran into a store for a few minutes. When I was five my dad let me "drive" around the neighborhood while sitting on his lap.
I'm not saying that all of these were good ideas and should be encouraged, but 9 doesn't strike me as too young for a certain independence of movement as described in that article. If the child has shown a sufficient level of focus and responsibility. The older of my sisters however, couldn't be trusted; she'd come home at 10 p.m. from playing at a park somewhere and say she didn't know it was dark.
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