GA _is_ safer than some modes of transport. Was: Tragedy

More on "some measures."

From the AOPA's 2004 Nall report:
1 out of 413 pilots involved in an accident in 2003.
1 out of 2009 active pilots involved in a fatal accident.

Now, try to follow along here Jim. If 1 out of 2009 active drivers in the
USA were involved in a fatal accident, the carnage from car accidents would
be in the MILLIONS.

Still not convinced because of "some measures" that suggest GA flying is
safer than walking, here's an excerpt from your very own Phillip
Greenspun.

"How dangerous is flying? There are 16 fatal accidents per million hours
of general aviation. It is fairly safe to assume that when a plane crashes
and someone dies, everyone on board dies. By contrast, the death rate for
automobile driving is roughly 1.7 deaths per 100 million vehicle-miles.
Car crashes don't always kill everyone in the car so let's use this
statistic as provided, which is for an individual traveling in a car
rather than for the entire car. So considering that the average airplane
accomplishes a groundspeed of at least 100 miles per hour, those million
hours of flight push the occupants of the plane over more than 100 million
miles of terrain. Comparing 16 fatal accidents to the 1.7 rate for driving,
we find that flying is no more than 10 times as dangerous per mile of
travel. And since most accidents happen on takeoff or landing, a modern
fast light airplane traveling a longish distance might be comparable in
safety to a car.

We can also look at safety per hour. This makes sense for recreational
pilots who have the alternative of spending a few hours flying around or
spending those hours taking a scenic drive. If the average speed of car
travel is 50 miles per hour, those 1.7 deaths occur in 2 million hours of
driving. This makes general aviation, with 16 deaths per 1 million hours,
roughly 20 times as dangerous per hour than driving."

Unfortunately, he didn't compare GA flying to walking around.