How the airline industry got wise to seat belts (opens in new tab)

Anecdotally, I've been on more planes with lots of turbulence (that without the seat belt would have been potentially damaging) than I can count on two hands. I've never been in a plane crash. :)

I imagine part of the reason people don't fly out of their seats today is, well, seatbelts, but also likely depends on the airline/pilots as well.

At an airline training session I attended, a man who survived a famous passenger aircraft crash advised that one should get as low as possible in their seat and put their knees up against the back of the seat in front of you, while still buckled. The passengers that died around him were killed by the heavy luggage exploding out of the overheads and breaking their necks, so it's important to have your head below the seat back. The people who sat upright also tended to break their noses/faces on the seat backs in front of them. The speaker walked away from the crash with only a knee injury by bracing himself in the reclined position.

I thought it was that they don't one a high heel puncturing the slide

It’s a slide rule

If you are a terrible driver, you can certainly make your individual odds of accident a lot worse than the average case, but I'm not sure being a good driver improves your odds by that much. A lot of the risks are totally out of the driver's control (e.g., other road users, equipment, weather etc..).

In many years the US commercial airlines have literally zero fatalities. You're more likely to die by falling in the shower.

https://www.airlines.org/dataset/safety-record-of-u-s-air-ca...

I remember hearing with the rise of regional airlines starting in the 90s the number of flight cycles (takeoffs/landings) went way up for some types of planes...and I assume for the "average flight." An increase in the number of short trips would make lowing the per-mile rating more impressive.

The stat is doubly misleading because it is skewed by the proliferation of long direct flights as turbofan widebody jets proliferated and air travel became more affordable which both happened in the same time period as that chart.

I don't think flying is particularly dangerous but the person you're replying to is being highly naive or misleading by taking that chart at face value.

Remember that takeoffs and landings are the most dangerous part of the trip.

Well what counts as a trip? Surely a trip down the street to a Bodega would be safer than flying across an ocean.

I have personally never liked being blankly told that flying is safer than driving, because I’d like to understand how safe flying is versus driving when something goes wrong.

Those seem like odd metrics to go by.

I've been riding for a long time. I definitely spent effort understanding risks and safety.

Motorcycle fatalities are mostly similar to factors that cause car fatalities, but extremely exacerbated.

For example, about 40% of motorcycle fatalities involve alcohol. One drink before riding a motorcycle is about equivalent to 4 before you drive.

Riding at night accounts for a significant amount of fatalities, as does unprotected left turns. Oversteering is another major factor, usually because you went too fast through a turn.

Also, motorcycle fatalities are currently rising. This is largely due to older people who have wanted to ride but couldn't or were afraid to. A 65 year old man on a 800lb 1.5L engine bike who's a new rider is going to take a bad situation a lot harder than a younger person on a smaller bike.

Motorcycles are more dangerous than cars, but if you understand the risks and employ constant self-improvement in your skills, you really begin to reduce your exposure to risk. Unfortunately, it does somewhat select for a group that likes to take risks.

Commercial aircraft are very safe, GA aircraft (your uncle with a cessna), are about as safe as motorcycles.

https://inspire.eaa.org/2017/05/11/how-safe-is-it/

It makes sense. Motorcycles are unforgiving in terms of safety features and attract disorganized and reckless people like flies to light.

Successful pilots are the opposite personality. They tend to be adventurous in terms of seeking experiences but are able to embrace following strict rules.