The driver's seat: an illusion of safety

22 May 2006

Motorists feel safer driving than flying
Car travel 27 times less safe than air transport
Car passengers don't rate car travel as safe

Motorists feel safer at the wheel of a car than flying in a plane, even though it's vastly riskier

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Motorists feel safer in a car than they do on a plane, train or bus - but only if they're driving.

A new survey from road safety group Brake and Green Flag motoring assistance shows that two thirds of motorists said they felt safer at the wheel of a car than travelling by other forms of transport.

That's despite the fact you're 27 times more likely to be killed in a car than in a plane or train, and 13.5 times more at risk than bus passengers.

The Brake survey shows that motorists have a more accurate appreciation of the dangers of travelling by car when they're passengers, with just one in 33 rating cars as the safest way to go.

Brake chief executive Mary Williams called for motorists to become more aware of the risks they face in their cars and drive more carefully: 'Imagine a jet falling out of the sky over Britain every fortnight killing 130 people - no-one would travel by plane.

'Yet despite the fact that this is the number of people killed on our roads every fortnight, we still feel safe in our cars.'