March 27, 2025 | Personal Injury
A plane crash is big news. A commercial plane crash is international news. A car accident, however, usually needs to be fatal or have blocked the road for hours to even get a blurb in the local news. While most of us no doubt realize we don’t hear about plane crashes nearly as often as we see car accidents, our oversized fear of being in a plane crash can skew things.
Twenty-five million Americans claim to have a fear of flying. The Guardian reports that 40% of Americans fear air travel, with in-flight turbulence being the scariest factor. Fear of car travel, on the other hand, isn’t really an issue by comparison.
The real question is, considering how destructive plane crashes are compared to car accidents, is air travel still worth the risk?
The Statistics
The average individual faces a lifetime risk of approximately 1 in 9,821 of dying in a commercial plane crash.This makes commercial air travel safer than subways, trains, buses, and motorcycles. Furthermore, from 2000-2022, plane crashes of all kinds declined in the US. In fact, you could fly around the world 600,000 times for every single commercial airplane injury reported in 2022.
Clearly, commercial flights are reliable, but what about small, private planes? This is a different story. The accident rate for commercial jets is just 0.2 per 100,000 hours of air time. Unfortunately, the accident rate for small, private planes is a whopping 5.6 for the same 100,000 hours. In a nutshell, it is 25 times more dangerous to travel in a two-seater plane than a commercial jetliner.
In contrast, 43,000 people lost their lives in car accidents in 2022—that’s 117 fatalities every day. During the same time period, zero lives were lost on commercial flights. If we extend the time frame to ten years (2012-2023), 37 people died nationwide in small plane crashes, and three died in commercial plane crashes. This means the rate of injury in 100 million miles flown is slightly higher than zero on commercial flights. Read more car accident statistics here.
How Safe Are Long Road Trips?
If you need to take a long trip, you might be debating driving vs. flying. As far as car travel is concerned, the National Safety Council reports that the lifetime odds of perishing in a car accident are one in 93. In 100 million car trips, the rate of death is 10.4. If we widen that net to include car trips that result in non-fatal injuries, the number jumps to 754.6 incidents in 100 million car trips.
These numbers reflect car travel in general. However, if we take a closer look at road trips specifically, the risk does shift. Short car trips are statistically safer than long road trips for a variety of reasons:
- We are more familiar with the roads and traffic patterns close to home
- Fatigue is common on long road trips, which equates to a higher level of drowsy driving and reduced reaction times
- Driving at night is also common on road trips, and reduced nighttime visibility is more conducive to crashes
While car travel remains a common mode of transportation, it’s important to be aware of these risks and take precautions.
To Fly or to Drive?
Experts tend to agree that small, private planes are just as dangerous as cars. So, unless you’re taking a commercial flight, then the answer is a wash. However, commercial air travel remains, by far, the safest way to travel long distances in the US. As far as any fear of flying you may have, we know data doesn’t always erase those concerns. If you’ve been in any kind of accident, get in touch with a personal injury lawyer to discuss your options.
Contact Our Personal Injury Law Firm in Florida
If you’ve been injured in an accident, please contact our experienced personal injury lawyers at Graves Thomas Rotunda Injury Law Group to schedule a free consultation today. We have three convenient locations in Florida, including Vero Beach, St. Petersburg, and Port St. Lucie.
Graves Thomas Rotunda Injury Law Group – Vero Beach
2651 20th St
Vero Beach, FL 32960
(772) 758-5735
Graves Thomas Rotunda Injury Law Group – St. Petersburg
200 Central Ave Suite 304
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
(772) 404-3858
Graves Thomas Rotunda Injury Law Group – Port St. Lucie
10805 SW Tradition Square Unit 024A
Port St. Lucie, FL 34987
(772) 617-8814
