Transportation Fatalities: A Risk Assessment

This paper assesses the relative fatality-risk of transportation modes and submodes for use in public safety resource allocation. Average annual fatalities for the modes and sub-modes are compared. Factors which might influence society's valuation of risk are examined - victim age, trends in fatalities, and variability of fatalities. Finally, other measures of risk (fatalities per ton-mile, per passenger-mile, and per vehicle) are presented to help judge the acceptability of existing risk levels.