Safety, yet again...

In article ,
"Dan Luke" wrote:
By and large, I have a greater degree of control over the risks involved
with flying an airplane than I do with the risks involved in driving a
car on the highway. I take steps to mitigate the risks in aviation and,
as a result, I do indeed believe that I'm generally safer in the
airplane than in the car.

With respect, you are kidding yourself if you believe that.

I disagree. The reality is that the risks to you from other drivers on
the road are far greater than the risks to you from other pilots in the
air, with some possible limited exceptions. You can increase your risk
on the road by driving in a careless and reckless manner, and by using
poor judgment, just as you can in the air. You can mitigate the risk to
yourself on the road and in the air through education, training,
experience, and self-discipline. Whether you practice effective risk
management is entirely up to you.



You have convinced yourself that you are sufficiently skilled and cautious to
overcome at least a 700% disparity in fatal accident rates--or greater if you
use the statistics Jay posted. Do you really believe that you possess
sufficient superiority to all other GA pilots to achieve this immunity?
Where do you think that puts you on the pilot bell curve? Most pilots think
they're right there with you, and therefore a bunch of you have to be wrong.

To be honest, I haven't been following this thread very diligently, so I
don't know what statistics Jay posted, or what he was claiming. I also
don't place much value on statistics unless they are placed in their
proper context.

I believe that I possess better skills and judgment that a majority of
the accident pilots. A vast majority of GA accidents are caused by a
string of very poor judgments by the pilot(s) involved, and usually the
string of poor judgments appeared prior to the accident flight.

I believe that I can end up as a negative statistic, but I believe that
I won't end up as a negative statistic as long as I am smart enough to
know what I don't know, and conservative enough to call it quits before
I get into trouble.

Risk management through education, training, and continuous practice
(experience) can substantially decrease your chances of becoming a
negative statistic.



From what I know of your flying, I presume you do not limit yourself to trips
around the pattern on pretty days; you demand utility from your piloting and
your airplane. This means that you take risks, and, by any empirical measure
we have available, your risks flying are far greater than your risks driving.

I do not limit myself to nice sunny days with no wind, but I don't take
risks that I consider to be unnecessary. If it's too windy, if there's
ice, thunderstorms, or the weather is at minimums, I just don't go.
Part of my decision is based on my own skills and personal limitations,
and part of my decision is based on the capabilities and limitations of
the equipment that I fly. In any case, the end result is that I
mitigate the risk to an acceptable level which, for me, makes that 500
mile trip much safer than an equivalent trip in the automobile.

I should also note that I don't plow through midnight snowstorms at
80mph on the highway, either, but I can tell you first-hand that many
drivers apparently don't have the same approach to risk management that
I practice on the road.


JKG