How safe are we really?
I have heard from various people that you are statistically safer in an aircraft than you are driving to an airfield and I have used this little 'fact' to give a few slightly uncertain passengers that little extra boost of confidence. Now I am wondering where does this statistic come from and how is it calculated.
Let's say our theory is 'flying is safer than driving'. The best way to calculate this I suppose would be something like 'accidents per driving hour vs. accidents per flying hour'.
For example the average driver might have 0.0002 accidents per driving hour and the average pilot about 0.00001 accidents per flying hour (completely made up figures). Therefore, flying is safer. Or should it be calculated as fatal accidents, or accidents where someone is injured or where the vehicle is written off?
We could debate this forever but my basic point is; Do any of these sort of statistics actually exists or am I just lying to my passengers?