[coldtea]

Once I run the numbers for air travel fatality rates, as compared to car fatality rates but talking into account miles travelled for both (and number of passengers etc), and, assuming I was correct, they came out pretty close.

[llimllib]

According to wiki, autos are more than an order of magnitude more dangerous per mile:

                                       Air      Car
    Miles driven                        40      450
    Risk (millionths)                 0.60     6.75

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_U...

edit: that was a shallow misreading of the data. But the end concludes that air travel is roughly slightly less than an order of magnitude safer.

[drzaiusapelord]

Per mile is a weird metric, isn't it? It just seems to favor aircraft that travel so much farther.

Per trip would be interesting Not to mention, a minor crash or serious failure in a car is usually a walk away event. A minor crash or serious failure in a plane or chopper is usually fatal. Its okay if my car breaks down on the interstate. Its not okay if my plane does over the ocean, like Air France 447.

I'm not saying air travel is unsafe. I just think we're selling the point incorrectly.

[danielweber]

90% of the risk in airplane travel is the takeoffs and landings, not the miles travelled. IIRC it came out to each airplane trip was as dangerous as ~30 miles of driving, meaning any trip that is normally offered by an airline is noticeably safer.