So I say again with 34,3 million cars registered in the uk alone and 1,2 million deaths worldwide, the car is looking a pretty safe bet. USA has 250,000,000 + registered cars.
Here's some info for you:
There are three main statistics which may be used to compare the safety of various forms of travel:
Deaths per billion journey:
Bus: 4.3
Rail: 20
Van: 20
Car: 40
Foot: 40
Water: 90
Air: 117
Bicycle: 170
Motorcycle: 1640
Deaths per billion hours:
Bus: 11.1
Rail: 30
Air: 30.8
Water: 50
Van: 60
Car: 130
Foot: 220
Bicycle: 550
Motorcycle: 4840
Deaths per billion kilometres:
Air: 0.05
Bus: 0.4
Rail: 0.6
Van: 1.2
Water: 2.6
Car: 3.1
Bicycle: 44.6
Foot: 54.2
Motorcycle: 108.9
Lies, damned lies, and statistics. But Deaths per passenger (or kilometre) mile, air travel is safer.
Your quote talks about vehicles that hold, on average, 5 people max as opposed to between 140 and 550 people.
I'll tell you know, even after a "sporty" landing after a 13 hour duty, the 7 miles driving back home are definitely more dangerous.
DW.