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Pete Smith · July 16th 03, 11:09 AM posted to uk.transport,uk.railway,uk.transport.london

In article ,
says...
Consider the predicament of people walking alongside both a road and a
railway.

A train runs along a fixed track. In the event of the driver losing control
the vehicle cannot swerve and current systems fitted to it ensure that it
comes to a stop in short order. However, unless they have both business and
permission tot be there access is denied to all.

A road vehicle by contrast is at liberty to roam where ever the driver
chooses. If when travelling along a road the driver loses control not only
is the vehicle likely to swerve all over the road, it is equally likely to
leave it and crash into anyone unlucky enough to be in its path or to smash
into roadside property causing further damage. Not only are there no safety
devices fitted to bring it to a stop under such circumstances, it is highly
likely that the driver could inadvertantly depress the accelerator pedal and
cause the vehicle to gain speed.

Given your hatred of cars, are you sure you're not MrNatural?

Is this a sensible method of ensurring the safety of the people of this
country?

Well, it seems to be working!

Here's some figures I found out a while ago, when someone said you had a
1/200 chance of dying in a traffic accident. You can get this figure if
you assume that the population of the UK stays constant at 60 million, and
that there are 3600 road casualties per year, and that you live for
approximately 70 years.

You have a 1/200 chance of dying in a road accident. This is as a
pedestrian, driver, cyclist etc etc

25,000 people die a year due to alcohol related diseases.
You have a 1/33 chance of dying from alcohol related disease.

164,000 people die a year due to smoking related diseases
You have a 1/5 chance of dying from a smoking related disease.

1000 people die a year falling down stairs (apparently!)
You have a 1/800 chance of dying while climbing the stairs! You're 1/4 as
likely to die falling down stairs as in a motor accident.

You have a 1/1 chance of dying full stop.

Some more information for you also... It is said that in a pedestrian/car
collision, there's an 80% likelihood that the pedestrian is (solely?) at
fault. They walk into roads without looking, they get drunk and fall over,
they run out between parked cars etc etc.

Let's get a bit of perspective here. Everything carries a risk. You can
sit in and worry about these risks, and probably have a heart attack
brought on by stress.

Pete.

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