哪一种交通工具更安全：飞机还是汽车？

当喷气式飞机开始滑出跑道，引擎发出尖厉的呼啸，你向几千英尺的空中攀升，向着令人激动的目的地航行时，你禁不住会想一个问题：飞机是否比汽车更安全？

但当你开车去社区便利店，或者坐着Uber汽车从朋友家回自己家的时候，你却不会产生这种担心。事实上，据美国政府统计的数据显示，坐飞机比开车要安全得多。

美国国家公路交通安全管理局的数据显示，2015年共发生了32,166起致命的交通事故，造成了超过35,000人死亡。这相当于每1亿英里行驶里程的死亡人数达到1.13人，每10万个美国居民就有约11人死于交通事故。

相比之下，美国国家运输安全委员会公布的美国飞机事故数据显示：2015年，初步统计数据显示共发生27起事故 — 没有一起造成人员死亡。这相当于每10万个飞行小时仅发生了0.155次事故。每1百万英里飞行里程发生航空事故的比率仅有0.0035。

换句话说： 据美国国家安全委员会统计，美国人死于汽车交通事故的概率为1/114。而死于航空航天运输的概率，包括私人飞机和出租飞机，为1/9,821。因为食物窒息而死的概率都比之高出三倍。

单纯从统计学的角度来看，开车比坐飞机更加危险。但我们不难理解为什么人们会有不同的假设。美国几乎每天都在发生交通事故，但许多交通事故并不严重，只是造成轻微伤害甚至没有伤害。而飞机失事可能是灾难性的、致命的事故。

尽管如此，航空公司会一丝不苟地检查设备，并聘请经过专业训练的飞行员，以确保每次飞行顺利。（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

It's a question you can't help but wonder as that jet begins to taxi down the runway, the engines roar to life, and you start to ascend thousands of feet into the air toward an exciting destination: Are airplanes safer than cars?

It's a fear you likely don't have when driving to your local grocery store or in an Uber on your way home from a friend’s house. But the truth is, according to statistics from the United States government, flying on a plane on average is overwhelmingly safer than driving a car.

Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that in 2015, there were 32,166 fatal motor vehicle accidents that lead to just over 35,000 deaths. That comes out to be 1.13 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, and nearly 11 people for every 100,000 U.S. residents.

Contrast these numbers to U.S. airline accidents recorded by the National Transportation Safety Board: In 2015, preliminary statistics revealed a total of 27 total accidents — zero of which was fatal. Of the accidents that did occur, just 0.155 happened for every 100,000 flight hours. Airline accidents per one million miles flown came in at a rate of 0.0035.

Put it another way: Americans have a 1 in 114 chance of dying in a car crash, according to the National Safety Council. The odds of dying in air and space transport incidents, which include private flights and air taxis, are 1 in 9,821. That’s almost three times better chances than you meeting your fate by choking on food.

In pure statistical terms, it's more dangerous to drive a car than to fly on a plane. But it’s easy to see why the public often assumes otherwise. Car accidents may happen every day across the U.S., but many of them are minor with little or no injury. Airplane crashes, on the other hand, can be catastrophic, deadly events.

That said, airlines meticulously inspect their equipment and hire professionally trained pilots to ensure a smooth flight every time.