Airbags Surface Again
January 30th, 2009Posted in Skiing Everywhere
Skiing the Backcountry has a couple of new posts about the merits of avalanche airbags in general and the Snowpulse one in particular. The writer, or writers, share my enthusiasm for these devices. But, just because I wake up some mornings, like today, in a feisty mood, I want to take exception to a commonly used argument, used in one of these posts saying that driving a car in the U.S. is statistically more dangerous than backcountry skiing. This “danger of driving” argument gets trotted out to “prove” that practically every dangerous sports activity is less dangerous than driving a car.
I have a little first hand knowledge of fatal car accidents, so I don’t dispute the real danger of driving. Here’s the bogus stat: 22 car-accident fatalities/100,000 licensed drivers = .23% chance of death.
versus:
25 avalanche deaths/139,000 backcountry skiers = about .18% chance of dying in an avalanche. (That’s .00018)
What’s wrong? Time exposed to danger is missing. If we multiplied the number of drivers by the number of hours they spend in a car on the road and compared that to the number of hours the backcountry skiers actually spend in avalanche prone terrain, I think that .o5% safety advantage for backcountry skiers would rapidly vanish.
It does! You can use your own assumptions, but if the ave. vehicle is driven 15,ooo miles at an average of ,say, 40mph, then that vehicle is in danger for 375 hours/yr. Multiple that by the 100,000 driver stat and divide it into the 22 fatalities/100000. 5.866
If we say a fairly avid backcountry skier hits the backcountry 40 times a year for an average of 5 hours, then they are in danger for 200 hours/yr. Multiple that by the 139000 backcountry skiers and divide that into the 25 deaths. 8.992
Aren’t statistics fun!
And we haven’t even factored in the number of passengers that are in the cars, since they are often the ones who die, not the driver.
Is there a point here? Yes! Backcountry skiing, in any sane persons view, has to be considered more dangerous than driving a car. Airbags have proven to be a great safety advance for motorists, now that practical designs are being developed for skiers, they should be used by smart skiers heading into avalanche terrain.
powderjunky commented:
I know I am much more aware of consequences skiing than I am driving a car!
Skiing the Backcountry commented:
Those are some good points about risks driving vs bc skiing.
FYI- we are giving away free schwag on Skiing the Backcountry every day this month! Hats, goggles, packs, apparel, books, etc.
All you have to do is comment!