Everyone understands that there’s some amount of risk when they drive a car. We’ve all had close encounters, and most people have been involved in accidents. You do know that you face this risk.
However, it’s also the sort of thing that often feels like a problem for other people. The average person gets in the car and doesn’t spend any time thinking about the danger or the odds of being injured – or even killed – in an accident. They see stories on the news where this happens to others, but they never really consider it to be a major threat to them.
But what you’ll find when you look at the stats is that driving is probably a bit more dangerous than you knew.
The number of annual fatalities
Perhaps the most convincing way to look at this is by considering the fatalities that happen every year. There are roughly 40,000 of them in the United States. Some years do see smaller numbers, around 35,000, but recent years have seen an upward trend. And there are far more injuries than there are fatalities.
Conversely, assume that the average plane holds 250 people – there are passenger planes with larger capacities, but an A300-B2/B4 holds around 266 people max. It would take 160 major plane crashes to lead to the same annual fatality statistics. And yet many people are far more afraid to fly than they are to drive, even though plane crashes are exceedingly rare and it’s much safer than driving.
Have you lost a loved one?
If you’ve lost a loved one in a fatal accident or if you have suffered serious injuries, then you need to know how to seek financial compensation.
