Flying vs Driving

[gibletts]

I read on the news yesterday a passenger aircraft with 400 odd people on board had a problem with an engine and had to do an about turn, dump some fuel and return back to where ever it came from, Singapore I think, it landed safely and no big deal (unless you were on board i guess).

Anyway as always in these stories some "air travel official" makes a statement reminding us that it is still safer to travel by air than it is to get in your car and drive, how many times have you heard that, and how on earth did "they" come up with it?

Dont get me wrong, its not that I think flying is anymore dangerous than driving, however I would love to see the assumptions & mathematics behind all this, its got to be one of the most unsubstantiated quotes of all time.

Is this just me or has anyone else thought this?

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Flying vs Driving

I think they base this on the number of fatalities per million passenger miles.

Using this reasoning roller coasters are probably the safest way to travel.

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Flying vs Driving

Its easy... Its how many people fly how many zillion miles without getting hurt compared to how many miles people drive without getting hurt. Statistically you are not going to go as far in a car without getting hurt. I believe...

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Flying vs Driving

There are 30-40 thousand people killed each year due to car and vehicle accidents in the US. The reason we are not scared as much by cars is that we are more frequently in them and around them.
http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Flying vs Driving

Flying is vastly more safe than driving a car. By comparison, the chance of getting killed in a car is a hurricane, compared to a puff of air for airplanes, particularly airline operated aircraft.

BTW, the aircraft involved was an Airbus 380, which is now the largest passenger aircraft in the world. It did return to Singapore safely. The problem was a piece of cowling on the #2 engine, which came off in flight. Beyond that, there was apparently a "ding" in the wing from debris, but nothing else.



???

 

[gibletts]

Re: Flying vs Driving

Ok then think about this...

How "they" do thier calculation? for eg. say I drive 1000 miles, thats 1000miles survived on the road for me, now say a large passenger aircraft does the same journey, is this still a 1000 miles, or do "they" say since there were 250 people onboard its actually 250,000 miles?

 

[JB]

Re: Flying vs Driving

I wonder what the outcome would be if they compared hours spent in those modes of travel instead miles traveled.

Whenever you read/hear those "statistics" just remember that statistice can prove whatever you want to prove.

There are lies, dang lies and there are statistics.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Flying vs Driving

It really doesn't matter, as long as they do the calculation the same way.
If you have 4 people in a car that went a thousand miles you could claim 4000 passenger miles in that trip. No difference.
It's widely acknowledged that commerical airline travel is that safest way to travel. Personally I believe it. You hear about commercial airline crashes because they are rare and newsworthy. Maybe that makes some people scared to fly. I'm far more worried about buying it in a auto crash.

 

[joed]

Re: Flying vs Driving

One difference is when people die in a car crash it is usually only one or two people. If people die in a plane crash it is hundreds of people at one time. It makes the news.

 

[CN Spots]

Re: Flying vs Driving

I remember hearing somewhere (Top Gear?) that a hovercraft was the safest mode of transportation in the world. Probably has more to do w/the tiny fraction of people who use one than the risks involved with that means of transportation.

I wonder where boats fall in these statistics?

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Flying vs Driving

Hard to say this with the amount of air travel I do but you are way more likely to survive a car crash than a plane crash.
If only I could drive to Korea, Japan and china !!!!!

 

[drrpm]

Re: Flying vs Driving

Commercial air travel is safer based on deaths per passenger mile. Driving is safer based on deaths per trip.
Flying used to be an adventure, now its a pain. I only fly if I can't drive the distance in a day.

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Flying vs Driving

Also remember that ANYONE can get behind the wheel of a car. As long as the car moves it can be on the road comeing at you at 60-70 mph. With a driver that doesnt speak or read english, no drivers license, been on meth for a week and hasnt slept, drunk of his/her ***, driving a car with bald tires and no brakes.
Everything in the airline industry is highly regulated. Yeah there are still screw ups but the chances are so slight IMHO~!

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Flying vs Driving

Back in the late 80s early 90s timeframe I subscribed to a monthly magazine that had all kinds of useful info. Can't remember the name of it now though. And of course, there's no link for the data. Hey, it was 20+ years ago!

They did an article about this very topic. They broke down the math in a bunch of ways.

Basically, with flying most people aren't injured in crashes, they die. With most car crashes, it's the opposite.

They also pointed out that the age and driving experience, marital status, gender and other factors influenced whether or not a driver would be injured or killed while on a trip.

All said and done, it was safer for a 40+ y.o. married man with kids to drive up to 800 miles than to fly that same distance.

As someone said about statistics, they can be misleading. After all, statistics show that what one woman can do in 9 months, that 9 women should be able to do in one month. Yeahhh... lol

 

[gonfishn]

Re: Flying vs Driving

No fly zone here. My take on flying is if God had wanted me to fly he would have given me wings.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Flying vs Driving

No fly zone here. My take on flying is if God had wanted me to fly he would have given me wings.

A man of reason.......

Give me a car anyday. I'll take my chances........

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Flying vs Driving

I wonder what the outcome would be if they compared hours spent in those modes of travel instead miles traveled.

Why would you do it that way? If I was going to drive 500 miles or fly 500 miles why would I do it by hours?

They say the most dangerous part of flying is the drive to the airport.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Flying vs Driving

And wheels if he had meant for you to ride???

Very true.

 

[geeco1]

Re: Flying vs Driving

I read a statistic once that said something like 90% of vehicle accidents happen within 10 miles of your home. At first glance I thought "wow, that's a lot". Then I realized that 90% of my driving is within 10 miles of my home. Even if I go on a cross country trip, the first 10 miles and the last 10 miles are within 10 miles of my home.

 

[JB]

Re: Flying vs Driving

It really doesn't matter, as long as they do the calculation the same way.
If you have 4 people in a car that went a thousand miles you could claim 4000 passenger miles in that trip. No difference.
It's widely acknowledged that commerical airline travel is that safest way to travel. Personally I believe it. You hear about commercial airline crashes because they are rare and newsworthy. Maybe that makes some people scared to fly. I'm far more worried about buying it in a auto crash.

Oh, it really does matter, Brewman. Forget passenger miles and use passenger hours. Suddenly passenger hours per death are a different thing than passenger miles.

There are a lot of PR created myths that are "widely acknowledged" and are at least misleading, if not pure hyperbole.