The plane truth

Plane crashes seem to be a fairly constant spectre in today’s headlines. From time to time, the media will comment on the number of recent plane crashes. This is followed by the inevitable articles comparing numbers and fatalities, which are in turn shortly followed by articles reporting how people may be reconsidering their travel plans involving air travel. Countering that alarmist rhetoric however, is clear statistical data indicating that air travel is actually one of the safest ways to travel, despite the old saw that cars are safer because you can’t pull over to replace a fan belt at 30,000 feet!

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A Risk Communication researcher at Harvard University’s School of Public Health calculated in a 2006 study that the odds of dying in a plane crash are 11 million to one. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded in 2001 that even if you are in a plane crash, the odds of survival are almost certain (95.7%).

Not to minimize or diminish the consequences of aviation tragedies, but it is interesting to note that one is rarely nervous before getting into the driver’s seat of their car. The Harvard study mentioned previously calculated that the odds of dying in a car crash are 5000 to 1. The National Safety Council’s Injury Facts 2014 edition calculates your lifetime odds of death in a car crash at 1 in 112. Does that surprise you? Does that change how you feel about getting into your car?

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (“TSB”)’s Transportation in Canada 2012 report provides the following national statistics relating to plane and car accidents in Canada:

• There were 118.5 million airline passengers and 222 aviation accidents with no fatalities listed, although the TSB’s Statistical Summary of Aviation Occurrences 2012 lists 54 deaths;
• There were 118,759 automobile accidents with 2,025 fatalities and 162,268 injuries.

The World Health Organization website lists car accidents as one of the 10 leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for 1.3 million and 2.2% of all global deaths in 2012.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these statistics are numbers that only have significance to researchers and statisticians. They potentially apply to each of us every time we get behind the wheel and turn the key or push the start button.

Don’t become a statistic. Whatever your mode of travel, remember The Plane Truth: you have the most control over how you arrive when you drive.

Wear your seatbelt and adjust your headrest, ensure you can be seen, be sober and alert, and make sure your driving is appropriate for the road, traffic, and weather conditions. 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.