Academics aside, my personal mantra is that aviation can be (for the most
part) as safe, or as dangerous as pilots choose to make it. There are so
many things that one can do to make a difference.

Call me old - call me a fool (call me an old fool) but I kinda enjoy my
life - so I do what I can to stay alive. If some idiot wants to get ahead of
me on the motorway - I pull over and let him get as far ahead as he likes
(the further the better). If I'm flying over water I WEAR a life jacket - no
ifs, buts, or maybes. If I'm night flying away from the airport I fly a
twin. If I don't like the look of the weather I turn back or go somewhere
else.

What I don't understand is why others don't do these things? I mean to say -
if they want to keep killing themselves with their "risk denial" attitudes
and actions I guess that's their right - but it seems a pity all the same.