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RELATIVITY: THE RISK OF TRAVEL

 

Since the beginning of the 21st century, some people express that travel has felt increasingly risky. Perhaps as travelers we are nervous about issues of health, flying, or terrorism. Or perhaps you are perfectly comfortable but your friends and family members are pressuring you to forgo that trip due to their concerns and perceptions. Media reports today certainly don’t help set our minds at ease. An unfortunate side-effect of the 24-hour news cycle is that dramatic or tragic stories get much more coverage than stories of hope and success, and that coverage often lacks context. Shock value and implied danger seem to dominate perspective and objective judgment. .

 

In the end, the HMSC would advocate that you travel only if you feel comfortable and excited doing so; any trepidation will likely detract from your experience.

 

But perhaps looking at some statistics and facts may help you – or your family members – look at the world and the reality of the rare occurrences that cause concern. We suspect some of these might surprise you.

Health:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Sierra Leone is closer to London, Madrid and Paris than Kenya. Would you visit London during an Ebola outbreak in West Africa? How about Tanzania, over 5,000 miles away? This is equivalent to if there were Ebola in California, would you visit Boston?

 

  • In 2013, there were 775 SARS-related deaths. According to the CDCCigarettes cause more than 480,000 deaths annually (including those from secondhand smoke).

  • In 2013 there were 24 deaths from Avian flu worldwide. According to the FDA, in 2012 there were 68 deaths from foodborne illness in the US, such as salmonella, E. coli and listeria.

  • One in five Americans’ deaths can be linked to obesity. The risk of terrorism is tiny compared to what we do to ourselves.

 

Flying:

 

  • In 2012, Arnold Barnett, a professor of statistics at M.I.T., determined that the death risk for passengers on commercial airlines is one in 45 million flights. In other words, flying has become so reliable that a traveler could fly every day for an average of 123,000 years before being in a fatal crash.

  • Compare the odds of a fatal airline crash to a recent report from the National Safety Council which outlines the following lifetime odds of dying:

  • 1 in 749 as a pedestrian

  • 1 in 415 as the occupant of a car

  • 1 in 4,982 while cycling

 

Terrorism:

 

The CDC and US Department of State statistics as of 2011 report that we are:

  • 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than a terrorist attack.

  • 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack.

  • 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack.

  • 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack.

  • 33,079 times more likely to die from heart disease than a terrorist attack.

  • 353 times more likely to fall to your death working on a roof or ladder than die in a terrorist attack.

  • 271times more likely to die from a workplace accident than terrorism.

 

According to Trade.gov: 61,569,800 Americans traveled overseas in 2013. According to the State Department, there were 16 deaths of private U.S citizens overseas in 2013. That figure includes deaths in Afghanistan, Iraq and all other theaters of war. Compare that to 32 deaths in the US caused by domesticated dogs.

  • U.S. citizens overseas killed as a result of terrorism: 16

  • U.S. citizens overseas injured as a result terrorism: 7

  • U.S. citizens overseas kidnapped as a result of terrorism: 12

  • In 2012, 69 were killed in mass shootings in the US.

  • According to Nation Master, in 2010 the United States per capita murder rate was worse than Haiti, Jamaica, Lesotho, or Israel.

 

According to Nation Master, in 2010 the United States per capita murder rate was worse than Haiti, Jamaica, Lesotho, or Israel.

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