Comparative safety

Life is hazardous!

As soon as we are born, we are condemned to die on average 70 to 90 years later.

Table 1, which follows, lists some risks of daily life. It is based manly on American statistical data, published in the 1980's and presented at a symposium at Harvard University in December 1988.

The rate of risk of premature death per 100 000 people is presented. Tobacco is at the head of the list at 21 900 deaths; road accidents cause 1 600 deaths per 100 000 people. The risk of premature death due to the presence of asbestos in schools is estimated at 1 per 100 000. The risk of death by lightning is 3 per 100 000 while bicycle accidents cause 75 deaths per 100 000.

Some people would say that a bicycle ride is more interesting than going to school, we won't argue that point!

Table 1

* Sources of risk evaluation: Commins (1985) , Weill and Hugues(1986), Wilson and Crough (1982), (most of the data is from the United States)