.... Meanwhile, Levitt pulls his punches when he has a chance to challenge conventional wisdom. Anyone who's ever been nervous about flying has heard the airline industry's assertion that flying is safer than driving. But the books are cooked on that one: when you compare the risk of death per mile, that's true, because planes cover a lot more miles. But you ought to compare the risk by hour. So, as one of those lucky aircraft safety engineers pointed out to me in flight, it turns out that flying is slightly more dangerous than driving after all. Fear of flying is a rational fear, and, as the engineer pointed out, one that's unfairly belittled by the airlines. Although Levitt presents the numbers, he glosses over the significance, ignoring another chance to challenge conventional corporate wisdom and note what uncannily good risk assessors people turn out to be. ....
This is stupid. Are the reviewer and authors all saying that a 40-hour drive is as safe as going the same distance on a 4-hour flight?
-- Andy