Re: Apollo. The only thing I never understood
From: Christopher M. Jones (marmiteNOTSPAM_at_dualboot.net)
Date: 09/03/04
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Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2004 08:43:59 -0500
Derek Lyons wrote:
> "Christopher M. Jones" <marmiteNOTSPAM@dualboot.net> wrote:
>>To be fair, plenty of people care about it. Hundreds of
>>billions if not trillions of dollars are spent each year
>>on roads, cars, and laws in efforts to improve automotive
>>safety.
>
> Hundreds of billions? Not in this ficton.
Do the math. "Safety" is often rated as the most important
concern in choosing a car by buyers. Then there's gas taxes
and other funds used on roadwork and automobile
transportation. Add it up worldwide and take a sizeable
slice as "safety" and you've got a hefty chunk of change.
New auto sales in the US alone are over a hundred billion
dollars a year.
> At any rate, you missed Mary's point. If 50 people die in an
> aircrash, it's front page news across the country. When a thousand
> times that many dies... It's hardly noticed.
I dispute that. Automotive fatalities are generally
well reported locally. And general issues of
automotive safety (road safety, speed limits,
car impact test results by make and model, etc.) are
fairly well covered nationally and internationally.
I don't think that counts as "hardly noticed". You
can argue about the news media's tendency for
sensationalism, but I think that's beside the point
here. Which should be that automobile use is a
risky and sometimes fatal activity, one that warrants
spending a substantial amount of time, effort, and
money in ensuring improved safety, but one that is
nevertheless worthwhile despite the risk. We
shouldn't be pining, or seeming to pine, for the day
when space related fatalities are unnoticed. Rather,
we should be looking toward the day when people will
have a more mature understanding and acceptance of
the risks associated with various activities and the
appropriate levels of effort and spending to curb
those risks.
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