How 'safe' is private flying?!

[taxistaxing]

Thanks for the responses. It's a case of 'lies, damn lies and statistics' I guess as there are so many variables at play.

It's an interesting question though. And one I've thought more and more about this year as I've been hour building and not had the comfort of an instructor sitting beside me. Of the 60 or so hours I've flown this year I've had three occasions where I was genuinely scared. Two of these were 'near-misses' with other aircraft, where I had to take evasive action, and one where I was forced to divert due to low cloud (unforecast) and ended up scudding around at 700 feet near high ground waiting to land. I've learned from those experiences and hopefully I'm a better pilot for them, and I certainly have a new appreciation of just how easily accidents can happen.
If I was to describe my own abilities - I would say I am inexperienced and therefore very risk-averse in my approach to planning (probably more so than some other PPLs I've flown with) - but then everyone would probably say that about themselves!
Ultimately I accept the risk because I love flying - but I want to be in a position to give non-flying passengers some honest insight into the risks. I think that's only fair.

I tell my passengers that it would be about as risky as motorcycling, except that I cheat by making sure I've got enough fuel, only taking off in weather I can cope with, choosing not to play silly buggers with aerobatics at low level, etc.

That probably hits the nail on the nail on the head in terms of a balance between scaring people sh*tless, and not misleading them either. I might just adopt it going forward!