> I have my pilot's license but haven't flown in years. The reason
is simple:
>
> I can swim, but I can't fly.
>
Steve's comments got me to thinking about comparitive risks. We had
a pretty good off-line caht on this subject.
One tends to take a rather schizophrenic view of risk when flying.
You do worry about the risk but then you convince yourself that the
majority of those risks are perdictable and controlable. In any
event, I stumbled across some interesting comparitive statistics. Of
course, they are not full equalized as many more folks are boaters
and bikers than pilots. Stiil, in line with our cold water swimming
discussion, it reminds me that even in our Amphicars we need to think
about safety to mitigate the risks.
In 1997
667 people died in General Aviation crashes.
821 people died in recreational boating accidents, 2,100 died in
motorcycle accidents,
825 died on bicycles.
Of course the sad reality is that unwillingness to accept any risk is
a primary reason why there will likely never be another mass produced
amphibious car (or aerocar). Meeting all of the current safety
reuirements for both a car and a boat would be challenging enough.
The bigger hurdle would be the potential legal liability.
Inevitably, someone would perish while trying to cross the Pacific
Ocean in their AmphiTaurus. Lawers will argue that the AmphiTaurus
should have been equipped with features to prevent it from travelling
more than 2 miles from sure. Someone will walk away with a billion
dollar settlement.
Mike Israel
65 Amphi (white)
