An upcoming trip to another city or a trip to the sea makes people think about what type of transport to prefer. And here some will choose the train, believing that it is safer, while others will fly by plane, spending less time traveling. What type of transport is actually considered the safest?
Public opinion
Opinion polls conducted over the past few years tend to show the same results. Of all modes of transport, passengers consider the train to be the safest.
Airplanes are among the most dangerous. Opinions regarding car travel are divided approximately equally. Regarding maritime transport, the public tends to consider it more of a safe method of transportation. But this is only the opinion of passengers who are unlikely to study statistical data on accidents, disasters and deaths associated with them.
What do the statistics say?
If people put airplanes in first place as the most dangerous way to travel, then statistics say quite the opposite. Statistical data is compiled in such a way that the basis is taken as mortality (number of people killed) per 160,000,000 km of distance traveled. So during flights this parameter is only 0.6-0.7 people. Railway transport is given second place in terms of safety - the death rate per 160,000,000 km of track is 0.9 people. The number of deaths in road accidents is 1.6 people. Therefore, we can conclude that the airplane is the safest mode of transport, and road transport is recognized as the most dangerous.
If you still doubt that flying is less dangerous than driving a car, then here are some more facts. In 2014, there were several plane crashes in the world that claimed 884 human lives. And in our country alone, in the first six months of 2014, more than 10,000 people died in car accidents. So which transport will be safer? The answer is still obvious. Therefore, before a trip, you should weigh the pros and cons, giving preference to one or another type of transport. And to get rid of the fear of flying (if anyone has any), here are some aviation facts.
1) An aircraft lands every three seconds around the world.
2) Donkeys kill more people than plane crashes.
3) If the chance of a daily disaster is at least 0.01 percent, then at least 13 planes should crash per day.
4) A plane crash cannot be an accident - it is always a combination of certain factors.
5) Before each flight, the aircraft undergoes a strict inspection and complex technical condition check.
6) Over 80 percent of people on our planet are afraid to fly on airplanes, and 5 percent categorically refuse to do so, preferring trains or ships.
7) A plane cannot fall from a height of 10,000 km, as many fear. There is a lot of pressure under the wings of an airplane, so it floats in the air in the same way as a car on asphalt.
8) Russian pilots do not drink at the controls - this is an invention of those people who are very afraid of flying.
Reading these facts may help reduce aerophobia. However, they are unlikely to be able to help those five percent of people who do not want to board the plane at all under any pretext.
Reading time: 7 min.
Every day, from the news feed, millions of people learn about car accidents, derailed trains, crashed planes and other accidents that result in a large number of deaths. The question arises, how to protect yourself from troubles and what type of transport is the safest? In order not to indulge in fear, we present to your attention a list of the safest transport in the world, according to this year’s statistical reports.
This type of transport is rightfully considered the most dangerous in the world. Statistics confirm this - 125 deaths per 1.5 billion kilometers. Anyone who prefers this type of vehicle seriously exposes themselves to danger, and very consciously. Motorcyclists make up only 1% of the total traffic on the highway, but a fifth of all accidents involve this type of transport. Motorists gave motorcyclists the nickname “crunchies” for a reason. The reason for this was a very low percentage of passive safety, enormous acceleration, enormous speed and psychological aspects: love of extreme sports and adrenaline rushes in the body. Motorcyclists often find themselves in the blind spot of cars because they are so small.
According to statistical reports, for every 1.5 billion kilometers there are 35 deaths. This is the most environmentally friendly transport, but at the same time one of the most unsafe. But, in truth, car drivers are more to blame for road accidents than cyclists themselves. It often happens that the car has only a few scratches, but the cyclist and his vehicle are between life and death.
Statistics in this case give figures of 25 dead people per 1.5 billion kilometers. The most dangerous incidents that happen in the metro are fires, crushes, and train collisions. A large number of people in a small closed space - panic and a huge percentage of casualties. In the Russian Federation, the leader in such incidents is the Moscow Metro.
Traveling by water has always been a very risky undertaking. Of course, over many centuries of technological development, water transport has now become much safer, but nevertheless, for every 1.5 billion kilometers there are 20 deaths. Although the main cause of death remains not collisions with other ships, but passengers falling overboard.
Statistics here give the following figures: 7 deaths per 1.5 billion kilometers. The danger of flying in outer space is in no way comparable to that on earth - traveling in space is 17 times safer than riding a motorcycle. During all the time of travel in Space, only three devices did not return to Earth (the only thing that has a negative impact on statistical reports is explosions during take-offs of spacecraft).
Minibus travel involves 5 deaths per 1.5 billion kilometers. This is one of the most popular modes of transport among the population. To protect yourself in a minibus, it is best to take a seat in the middle. The size of the car, stable grip and passive safety will all play a role here. Unfortunately, the main cause of accidents remains the low level of driver qualifications.
Here statisticians give the following figures: 4 deaths per 1.5 billion kilometers. The development of technology has also affected cars; now passive and active safety is at a completely different level. Unfortunately, motorists are the most dependent on other road users. You can be the most skillful and careful driver in the world, but this still won’t protect you from the fact that someone could crash into you and end up in the hospital, or worse.
Buses are in third place in the ranking; statistics show one fatality per 1.5 billion kilometers. If you want to travel safely, then this transport is for you. Sometimes it turns out that the bus route covers more than one thousand kilometers (for example, in Australia, a bus traveling on the Perth-Brisbane route travels 5,455 kilometers). But it is still quite safe to travel by bus.
The train is one of the safest modes of transport. Just think about it - only 0.2 deaths per 1.5 billion kilometers of road. The railways in America and Europe are the safest in the world. In Russia, things are a little worse - 0.7 deaths on the same piece of road. If you calculate the probability of death on a train, it will be 1 in 431800 degrees (approximately 0.0002%). Investopedia reports that you are 1,000 times more likely to die in a car accident than in a train accident.
Paradoxically for many, airplanes are the safest transport in the world. The probability that you will die while flying on an airplane is 1: 8,000,000. The problem is that although airplanes crash very rarely, they always cause a large number of victims. Therefore, the media always covers such incidents and psychologically people begin to fear airplane travel. There are 0.5 deaths per 1.5 billion kilometers. The Flight Safety Agency states that there is a 1 in 8 million chance of dying in a car accident. And self-destructive individuals need to take a ticket every day on a random flight for 21 thousand years in order to accomplish their plans.
Are you afraid to fly, preferring a car or a train? Completely in vain. Today we will determine the safest mode of transport based on dry statistics, which, as it turns out, have little to do with our fears.
It’s not for nothing that we started with fears, because they clearly show to what extent our emotions and speculation can prevail over facts and common sense. It is no coincidence that absolutely all sociological surveys give approximately the same results. People consider the train to be the safest mode of transport, the car comes in second place, and the most dangerous, of course, is the plane. But it gives slightly different results.
There are several methods for calculating deaths in different modes of transport in the world. The most accurate and common is the ratio of deaths per segment of the distance traveled. The starting point is considered to be 100 million miles (160 million kilometers).
True, based on these statistics, the safest mode of transport is space transport. After all, in its entire history, only three accidents occurred, and colossal distances were covered. However, space tourism is a prospect, although not too distant, but of the future, so we will look at more common means of transportation.
Especially for you: airplane is the safest mode of transport, statistics confirm this 100%. There are 0.6 deaths per 100 million miles. If we take 2014 as an example, there were 21 plane crashes worldwide. Of these, 10 are cargo ships, 11 are passenger ships. A total of 990 people died. This is less than the number of cyclists who died, and even less than the number of people who died in a year at the hands of donkeys.
In total, about 33 million flights were made during the year. On average, there is one accident per 1 million flights. It should be noted that most of them are on small private jets.
The probability of dying in a regular passenger flight crash is extremely small, 1/8,000,000. Even flying every day, it will take 21 millennia to get on that ill-fated flight that crashes.
The myth that there is no chance of survival in a plane crash also has little to do with reality. Aircraft are designed by people who know first-hand about aerodynamics and gravity. Therefore, in order to hit the ground with a bang from a height of 10,000 km, you need to try hard.
Let's turn again to statistics. Over the past 20-plus years, there have been approximately 500 aircraft accidents in the United States. The number of deaths in them was only 5% of the passengers on board at the time of the accident. Even if we ignore minor incidents and analyze only serious disasters with impacts on the ground, the breaking of the aircraft body and fires, the number of survivors in them is approximately 50%.
Railway transport
According to statistics, this is the safest form of land transport. The mortality rate from train accidents is 0.9 passengers per 160 million km. It sounds incredible, considering the speed at which ultra-modern trains travel. However, you can't argue with the numbers. At the same time, global statistics are largely spoiled by countries such as, where the concept of safety has a very specific meaning.
Automobile transport
For every 160 million km traveled, 1.6 people die in road accidents. According to these statistics, a car can easily be considered the most dangerous type of transport. Every year, about 1.2 million people die on the world's roads, which is a thousand times more than in plane crashes. Thus, you are more likely to get into an accident on the way to the airport than to die on the plane itself.
Moreover, these figures apply only to four-wheeled vehicles. If we talk about motorcycles and mopeds, then the mortality rate there is many times higher: 42 people per 160 million km.
Crash Landings: a video showing that even the most difficult situations have a way out.
The National Union of Liability Insurers has compiled an accident rate rating for passenger transport in Russia. The analysis used statistics from compulsory carrier liability insurance, which has been in force in our country for five years. Vice-President of the National Union of Liability Insurers Svetlana Gusar told the details in an interview with RG.
Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 was able to land in 1988 after part of its skin was torn off at an altitude of more than 7 kilometers. Then only one person on board died. Photo: AP Archive
Svetlana Viktorovna, what type of transport in Russia today is the most dangerous for passengers, based on your statistics and how did you make the calculations?
Svetlana Gusar: During the implementation of the law on compulsory liability insurance for carriers, we managed to accumulate a large amount of data. It allows us to speak quite confidently about many indicators. In order to evaluate such a parameter as the accident rate, we calculated the number of victims out of 10 million passengers transported by each mode of transport. Water transport is still in first place. With a relatively small number of passengers carried by this type of transport, the number of victims is the most impressive - 120 people per 10 million. This figure is the result of several major incidents that have recently occurred on the water. They had a major impact on statistics.
Air transport takes second place in this ranking. Here it is necessary to clarify that we are mainly talking about helicopters. Airplanes mainly operate flights not only within the country, but also abroad, so airlines are exempt from the need to insure their passengers under the Russian law on carrier liability. They are allowed to purchase an international policy that complies with the requirements of international law. So, in the helicopter transportation segment, for every 10 million passengers transported, there are 30 casualties.
If you look at the number of dead, not the wounded, the picture turns out to be somewhat different. In first place will be air transport, where the highest death toll is 23 people per 10 million passengers. Water - on the second. They are followed by automobile passenger transportation, and specifically in the segment of intercity rather than urban transportation.
How can this be explained?
Svetlana Gusar: I think mainly at high speeds: in city conditions you can’t drive too hard. Moreover, there is also a seasonal factor. In summer, there are more accidents with injuries on vehicles. It would seem that it should be the other way around: in winter both the weather conditions and the road are worse. But there are more accidents in the summer: drivers relax and violate the speed limit more often. In addition, the intensity of transportation increases sharply with the start of holidays, and higher traffic speeds in the summer, which are ensured by good road conditions, unfortunately lead to more serious accidents.
The largest number of injured passengers are on water transport. Helicopters come in second place
We also monitor such an indicator as the average number of victims in one accident. And here, inland water transport is still leading. In second place is intercity bus transportation. In water transport, the average number of victims in one accident is 11 people, in the intercity segment - 2.5 people.
Svetlana Gusar: Trams and commuter trains are the two main categories with the lowest death and injury rates per 10 million passengers.
What is the average payment to passengers injured in an accident on a particular type of transport?
Svetlana Gusar: The main part of payments under this type of insurance is made for damage caused to the life and health of the passenger. The payment for the deceased is 2 million 25 thousand rubles. In terms of health, if you look at all types of transport as a whole, the average payment, as we say, “with bruises” (minor bruises, for which the law requires a minimum compensation of 1 thousand rubles. - Ed.) is about 183.5 thousand rubles. Without “bruises” the average payment is about 246 thousand rubles.
The indicator varies quite a lot depending on the type of transport. The largest payments for damage caused to health in air transport - for passengers, such accidents always result in the most serious damage, and often even lead to death.
Are all passengers insured today?
Svetlana Gusar: Insurance under the law on compulsory carrier liability covers almost all types of passenger transport. The only exception today is passenger taxis. The metro has a special status. He is not obliged to insure his liability to passengers, but due to the fact that the enterprises are solvent - there are only seven of them in the country, citizens injured in an accident in the metro have the right to receive compensation directly from the metro itself in the same amount as passengers other types of transport. In general, coverage across all transportation segments varies from 85 to 90 percent. This suggests a high degree of passenger protection. A five-year analysis of the law’s operation showed that this is a really working type of insurance, under which 4.3 billion rubles have already been paid.
The lowest rates of dead and injured passengers are on trams and commuter trains.
This is also a definite milestone in Russian legislation, since for the first time in the history of Russia, fixed amounts of insurance payments for damage to the health of victims were introduced at the level of compulsory insurance, which are determined not by the actual costs of treatment incurred by a person, but only by the degree of harm caused. These payments are usually much higher. It is also important to note that the basis for calculating such payments was fixed from the very beginning at a very high level - 2 million rubles. For example, when compared with possible payments to the victim under compulsory motor liability insurance, payments for passengers are four times higher. Imagine, for the same injury, a person, being a bus passenger or a pedestrian, will receive two different payments, the value of which differs four times!
Perhaps it would be worth bringing payments for all types of insurance to a single denominator.
Svetlana Gusar: We know that the Ministry of Finance has unification plans. But any increase in payment limits comes down to an increase in the cost of insurance. And if now we simply raise the limit to 2 million under compulsory motor liability insurance, this will absolutely have a significant impact on tariff policy. This is now a deterrent. Therefore, the state is taking very cautious progressive steps in terms of increasing limits.
By the way, another advantage of the law on carrier liability is that payments under it do not have a statute of limitations. Even if a person does not exercise his right to compensation immediately after an accident, he may be able to apply for payment later. We have events that are announced after three, four years, simply because people either did not know or were busy restoring their health, and they had no time to run to insurance companies. There are not very many of them, but nevertheless they exist.
The average time from the date of the incident to the day of filing an application for compensation is now 148 days. From the date of the event to the date of payment - 178 days - this includes the period for providing missing documents and resolving other issues that arise in the process of settling the loss.
It is worth remembering that a transport emergency, as a result of which a passenger was injured, must be documented - this is necessary to receive compensation. Since most incidents in passenger transport are accidents involving buses, the main documents confirming the fact and circumstances of the harm caused are traffic police documents. Also, such a document for any type of transport can be an act, which, in accordance with a recent order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia, after each incident, the carrier himself is obliged to draw up.
If an insurance company loses its license, who pays compensation to passengers injured in an accident?
Svetlana Gusar: For this purpose, there is a NSSO and a compensation fund - a mandatory attribute of all laws on compulsory liability insurance. It is formed from contributions from insurance companies. According to the law on compulsory liability insurance for carriers, three rubles from every hundred rubles go to the compensation fund.
Fortunately, we still don’t have many companies going out of business. And all recent cases of exit from the market involve the transfer of the insurance portfolio. In this case, the contracts concluded by the insurer leaving the market are transferred to the service of another insurance company and do not disappear anywhere. The new insurer assumes responsibility and makes payments in accordance with the terms of the accepted insurance contract, without using the funds of the compensation fund.
The super cruise liner MSC Splendida arrived at the Vladivostok Marine Station. There are 4 thousand people on board. According to international law, all of them must be insured. Photo: RIA News
If the portfolio was not transferred, then the NSSO is responsible for all obligations of such negligent insurers to the victims, making compensation payments.
They are going to extend carrier liability insurance to taxis. What could be the cost of insurance for taxi drivers?
Svetlana Gusar: The State Duma may consider a bill on insurance for taxi passengers during the autumn session of 2018. The amendments in any case provide for a transition period of one year. During this time, tariffs will be developed, and taxi drivers themselves will be able to prepare for the new rules. So the bill will come into force no earlier than the end of 2019.
According to preliminary estimates, the cost of an insurance contract for one car can be about 3-5 thousand rubles per year. This will add no more than 3 rubles to the cost of one trip.
But taxi drivers are still complaining that they have difficulties concluding contracts under compulsory motor liability insurance with a special mark. Allegedly, due to the high accident rate of this type of transport, insurers do not want to work with taxi drivers. Will this problem also arise under the law on carriers' liability?
Svetlana Gusar: The problem of MTPL availability is not limited to taxis. It is determined by a single factor - tariff setting. According to statistics, the frequency of accidents in the taxi segment is actually three times higher than in the case of conventional cars. But this doesn't really say anything. I'll explain why. An ordinary person drives his car for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. Taxi drivers actually drive for 20 hours - this is the average operating time of a taxi per day. They drive 10 times more, but their accident rate is only three times higher than that of ordinary motorists. It is clear that this high accident rate is due only to the intensity of vehicle use. If you were an insurer and understood that your taxi payments exceeded your fees, you would also try to somehow limit the influx of taxi driver clients. This alone causes the problem with concluding contracts under compulsory motor liability insurance.
As for the availability of carrier liability insurance, I have never heard of anyone being unable to buy insurance - we have no such complaints in the association. The thing is that under compulsory motor liability insurance 90 percent of payments, if not more, are payments “for hardware”. According to the law on carrier liability, 97 percent of payments are compensation for harm to life and health. At the same time, fortunately, there are significantly fewer accidents with deaths and injuries than cases of damage to hardware. In addition, the cost of restoring a car depends on inflation and the dollar exchange rate. "Hardware" is, unfortunately, tied to the need to purchase spare parts, the cost of which also very much depends on the mentioned factors. Payments under the law on insurance of carriers' liability to passengers exist independently of this dependence. Therefore, there are no problems with concluding contracts for this type of insurance, and they are also unlikely to arise in the future.
Help "RG"
The law on compulsory insurance of civil liability of carriers to passengers for damage to life, health and property has been in force in Russia since 2013. Its requirements apply to almost all types of transport, including bus and trolleybus transportation. Taxis were not included in the law at the stage of its development and approval due to the fact that this market was not regulated at that time.
The maximum payment for damage to life and health under the law on carrier liability reaches two million rubles. Compensation for damage caused to luggage is also provided, up to 23 thousand rubles. The protection of passenger taxi passengers is now provided within the framework of compulsory motor liability insurance with a special mark, according to which the maximum payment for harm to life and health does not exceed 500 thousand rubles.
After another tragedy with an airplane and numerous victims, everyone again recalls with skepticism the constantly repeated slogan that “an airplane is the safest transport in the world.” This probably comes from the fact that we perceive ourselves on an airplane as completely helpless in the face of emergency situations and the chance of rescue on our own is practically zero. But when driving a car at a decent speed, in bad weather it seems to us that if we manage to dodge something or airbags will definitely save our lives
So which transport, according to statistics, is the safest in the world?
Mopeds and motorcycles
For many years in a row, such transport has been considered the most dangerous. Of the total traffic, motorcycles make up only 1%, while 20% of deaths on the roads occur due to this type of transport. In order to survive, you should remember that you cannot reach a reckless speed of more than 70 km/h. Desperate bravado is not only inappropriate, it can also cost the driver his life. And, if he took a passenger with him... According to statistics, 125 deaths occur for every 1.5 billion km. motorcycle rental The mortality rate of drivers of conventional cars is 28 times less than the mortality rate of motorcycle drivers. These are the modern facts.
Bike
From year to year, a bicycle is considered one of the most dangerous types of transport, according to official statistics. This year was no exception, unfortunately. Most often, accidents involving bicycles occur when they collide with cars. The number of such accidents on the roads is constantly growing. Therefore, cyclists should be as careful as possible. Since teenagers most often die in such accidents, all parents should take this point into account. At 1.5 billion km. According to statistics, there are 35 deaths.
METRO
Metro, this type of transport in case of accidents destroys the lives of many people at once. And emergencies in the metro are especially dangerous for citizens. If we talk about Russia, most often the victims are passengers of the Moscow metro.
FERRY
Ferries are not as safe as water transport enthusiasts would like. According to current year statistics, by 1.5 billion km. accounts for 20 deaths. In particular, it should be noted that not every death occurs as a result of a crash. There have been cases of passengers falling overboard. Water transport is also unsafe!
Spaceship
Only 18 of the spacecraft that have been sent into limitless space since the very first flight in 1961 have failed to return. And this is despite an impressive number of vehicles of this type sent into space. There were 530 ships in total. It is worth considering that people did not die in space itself. Tragedies happened during takeoff or during landing. According to statistics, by 1.5 billion km. accounts for 7 human deaths.
Minibus
Minibuses were in the middle of the ranking of the safest transport. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for people to die when traveling on this type of transport, often due to the low qualifications of the drivers.
Automobile
Cars used to be considered an incredibly dangerous type of transport. Everything is very simple. The machine design has been significantly improved in recent years. Thus, the number of accidents has decreased significantly. New statistics show that 1.5 billion km. There are four deaths per car. However, this does not mean that you can safely forget about safety measures or become fans of crazy driving.
Bus
For 1 billion km. accounts for 0.5 deaths according to official statistics. This applies to ordinary buses.
1 place. Train
Trains, according to statistics, are considered the safest transport in the world and are in first place on our list. This is especially true for American and European trains; only 0.2 deaths occur per 1.5 billion km. to the share of trains. If we take only the Russian Federation, the mortality rate in railway transport is 0.7 per 1.5 billion km, which is also not very much. At the same time, global statistics are largely spoiled by countries such as India, where the concept of safety has a very specific meaning.
