Plane or train travel safer?

By Kristi Palma

March 27, 2014

2 minutes to read

Which is safer – traveling by plane or by train?

After the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Monday’s commuter train derailment at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and the MBTA Green Line derailment earlier this month in Boston, folks are wary of traveling by both and have turned to social media to express their fears.

Imogen Thomas, in London, tweeted the following this week:

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Plane travel is safest, reports Ian Savage, of the Dept. of Economics & Transportation Center at Norwestern University, in the Huff Post Live video clip above. Trains are three times more dangerous than flying but safer than traveling by car (which is 40 times more risky than flying), according to Savage.

Yet many folks are still clearly afraid to fly.

HLN TV posted the report yesterday “We asked, you answered: Are you afraid to fly?’’ after asking folks to sound off on its Facebook page. Those who admitted they are afraid posted the following comments: “Ever since 9/11’’ and “Funny you say this. I was just talking about a nice tropical getaway, but I am BEYOND TERRIFIED to fly and WILL NOT fly for a while!!!’’

Travel psychologist Michael Brein explained why we fear the most statistically safe form of travel.

“If you look at the statistics, it’s very clear that airline travel is safe,’’ said Brein in the clip. “But people don’t normally deal with the statistics in a rational way. I think what they do is they deal with it more in the way that, ‘How does it affect me personally?’ I like to think of a traveler as someone who travels not only with actual baggage, but they travel with a whole bunch of psychological, cultural, social baggage, which is akin to having a bubble around you in an environment where you normally live – your mundane work world, or school world. Everything is neatly organized, you have a response that’s predictable, reliable to everything and you’re comfortable.’’

Travelers feel the most scared on planes, even though they are the safest, said Brein, because of the lack of freedom and control. The car, which is ironically the most dangerous form of transportation, is the mode of transportation that people are most comfortable with because they feel in control, he said.

Here is a breakdown of modes of travel from most safe to most dangerous, according to Northwestern University statistics: plane, bus, urban mass transit, commuter rail and Amtrak, ferry boat, car. And the most dangerous of all? Motorcycle.