Fly It to the Ground

My response to your post is that the field will
not
neccessarily have a better survivability factor than the road. My
intention
was to broaden the factors to be considered when envisioning this
scenario.

As I recall, most forced landings do allow the occupants to
survive. The fatalities usually come as a result of the post-crash fire
where fuel was involved, or from exposure to the elements while waiting
for rescue.
So we teach our students that immediately after a forced
landing you get yourself and your pax out of the airplane and get away
from it. Fires sometimes break out some time after the airplane is
damaged. There should be a chance later on to retrieve emergency
supplies (they'd better be aboard) if the thing doesn't burn.
And, being in Canada, we always take survival kits and proper
clothing seriously. We are continually amazed at the people who will
jump into their airplanes in the dead of winter with nothing more than
a light jacket and sneakers and assume that all will be OK. If they had
to force-land and had to walk (assuming no broken legs) one mile to a
farmhouse, say, at -20°C in a 20-knot wind, they would die. Some of
these same folks will fly thorough the Rockies (no matter what time of
year) without anything more than what they wear to work. And some of
them disappear for a day or two, only to be found dead of hypothermia.
I really wouldn't want to have to ditch in water at any time
of year. Hypothermia kills in the summer, too. The survival stuff goes
down with the airplane.
All this to say that we too often assume that if we can land
the airplane under control, we'll survive. We need to be able to do
that AND live to see another Christmas.

Dan