Which Is Safer: Flying in a Plane or Driving in a Car?
While flying in an airplane can look and feel unsafe to the common traveler, this is due to the traveler's misconception and fear, rather than any dangers of air travel itself. The fear of flying combines many deep-seated, powerful fears: fear of heights, lack of control over the situation and being in an enclosed, crowded space, among them. Nevertheless, statistically, air travel is many times safer than driving a car.
Other People Are Reading
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The Facts
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Auto accidents kill approximately 50,000 people a year in the U.S. According to Jeff Wise, in "Psychology Today," flying fatalities in the U.S. comes to "one per billion passenger trips." In comparison, auto accidents kill some 50,000 people a year. Driving a car feels safer to most people but it cannot compare to the safety statistics in commercial flight.
Expert Insight
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Researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute studied this issue in detail. Driving safety depends on the number of miles traveled; airline safety is more a factor of takeoffs and landings, which is when most airplane accidents occur. Using the parameters set out in this study, researchers Sivak and Flannagan "estimate that driving the length of a typical nonstop segment [of flight] is approximately 65 times as risky as flying."
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Probabilities
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports that airline passengers have a very remote chance of being in an airplane accident -- a 1 in 2 million chance. If they are in a flight accident, there's a 60 percent chance of surviving.
Conclusions
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Statistically, driving is far more risky than flying. You may feel safer in your car, but you are far more likely to be injured or killed in an auto accident than as a passenger in an airplane.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit airplane#2 image by krynio from Fotolia.com crashed red auto image by hazel proudlove from Fotolia.com
