Safety perceptions

[Ou Man]

As we all are well aware of, there has been a lot of incidents and accidents to the detriment of the images of recreational aviation as of late.
If you mention the fact that you fly a microlight , you are looked upon as if this is the last chance that your audience might see you alive. You start defending the sport by giving statistics and personal experience but to no avail. To them you already belong to the "after world". Its just a matter of time.

However, if you look at the statistic available on road accidents, there is no doubt that to travel by car is by far more dangerous than to fly a microlight.
18000 deaths related to car accidents per annum! ! ! That is approximately 50 deaths per day!. I haven’t got the detail on minibus taxi’s but I presume that they play a major role in these statistics. I also heard that these accidentsit cost the tax payers more than R50 Bil per year?.
What I’m getting at is the reaction of the general public and the authorities to the few accidents relating to aviation. From all corners you hear that the government is going to “crack down” on these aviators. “We will regulate them out of the sky” as one official allegedly said.
What is being done to regulate the taxi industry to try and limit the deaths they cause?
Is there anything we as aviators can do to help change the perceptions of the uninformed?
I think it is high time that we start our own campain . "Fly... don't drive"

[Stephan van Tonder]

Buy the January SA Flyer. There are some statistics in there. Sadly it ain't pretty. What you might not be looking at is number of cars and number of hours in cars so sadly your chance of going in a GA accident is bigger than being killed in a taxi according to the stats.

[John Boucher]

I'd rather take my chances up there than down here....

Stats can always be manipulated in many ways to let one or other scenario look bad!

One day margarine is good for you then butter is better then neither because canola is the in thing.....

Bottom line is we must ensure our own safety at least!

[Stephan van Tonder]

I totally agree with that which is why I finished most of my flying training amidst the worst month of accidents. Everyday on my way to work I dodge at least 4 accidents and some days one every couple of minutes. At least while you are flying you are mostly responsible for your own safety. But sadly - if you want statistics to prove the safety of GA to non-aviators it ain't gonna be easy.

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Difference is you have to drive and thus regardless of the death toll it becomes an acceptable risk. You don't have to fly - in most cases and thus you are risking more than you have to. Me I choose to fly more and drive less. The more hrs I spend in the car the higher my chances of becoming a statistic. Funny thing about statistics are they are completely random in most cases. You could be F1 driver, you just as dead when hit by drunk driver for eg. I used to drive back home on Friday nights to be with family over weekend. Wreckless drivers on roads were just too many, so I used to drive back on Sat Morn, but then lost another day....

I used to do 60-70'000km a year mostly at night. Was in a couple accidents and saw plenty. Then mommy said fly or find another job.... Tough choice, After a millionth of a milliesecond, I was flying the same routes I used to drive. Been flying them now for 4 years. Done roughly 200'000km by air and less than 30'000km on roads. Not a single incident or scare (Martha excluded) in the air. Nerves are fine and stress is waaaay down. Even just driving to from airport I shit myselfmore than I have ever in the air. For me flying rather than driving has made the world of difference. I sleep at home more often including the unscheduled sleep outs due to WX, Maint etc. Most stress I have on avg day relating to transport issues is if there is enough avgas left in the drum or if I have to lift a 200l avgas drum on my own or possibly getting ATC readback wrong. More stressful driving to from airport than actual flight.

Works for me and I have yet to meet someone who once I have explained the situation says "Chom if I was you I would rather drive...." Makes you think....

Social flying is another story....
Manage the risk, respect the WX and your limits.... If I flew a trike it would have a chute,simply because of the lack of the crumple zone, airbags, impact protection torstion bars . Manage the risk. All hell breaks loose become a skydiver and fly another day..... How many guys drive 4x4 beacuse it may give you a better chance in a prang.... (As long as my car bigger than yours I should have a better chance at surviving mentality)

my 2c...

If I could get more time off to fly I would fly more. Hopefully when Coves comes off I will be able to reduce driving risks even more and walk to aerie.....

Only way to be 100% safe is live in a bubble,eat through a tube and watch others living the dream.