What type of transport is most convenient? What type of transport is the safest?

When we need to go on a long journey, then everyone thinks about what type of transport to choose. And this is not an idle question, since it is directly related to life safety.

This is exactly what we will talk about in the article from the “” section.

So, what type of transport is the safest, and what do statistics say about this?

Let's look at the three most popular means of transportation: air, rail and road.

Before presenting the statistics, I would like to note that sociological surveys give us an amazing picture. People consider the train to be the safest mode of transport, the second place is given to the car, but, according to the average person, they are the most dangerous means of transportation.

These data clearly demonstrate how strongly ours can prevail over dry numbers and stubborn facts.

What do the statistics say?

  1. An airplane is the safest form of transport.
  2. The train is in second place.
  3. A car is considered the most dangerous form of transport.

Safe transport statistics

Now let's talk about this in more detail. First you need to figure out what principle the statistics use to calculate the safest mode of transport.

There are three methods for calculating this indicator, and scientists consider the most accurate method that analyzes the ratio dead people per 100 million miles (that is, 160 million km).

Aviation transport

According to the statistics mentioned above, the plane is the safest mode of transport. 0.6 people die per 100 million miles.

As an example, let us take for analysis data for 2014, when 21 plane crashes occurred in the world. A total of 990 people died, of which 11 were passenger planes and the remaining 10 were cargo planes.

In total, 33 million flights took place in 2014. There was only one accident per million flights (the vast majority of which occurred with frequent aircraft rather than regular ones).

Statisticians say that the probability of dying in a plane crash on an ordinary passenger flight is negligible, amounting to 1/8,000,000.

The statisticians are ironic about this: you are more likely to get into an accident when you drive your car to the airport than to get into a plane crash!

Rail transport

The railway provides us with the safest overland method of transportation. According to statistics, the mortality rate from railway accidents is 0.9 passengers per 160 million km.

It is quite possible that even this will seem surprising to you, because we hear about incidents on railways quite rarely.

In fact, the statistics of mortality from railway accidents, in the overwhelming majority, are spoiled by countries such as. They know about safety only by hearsay.

I'm sure you've come across different ones on the Internet. real photos from the life of trains in this wonderful country.

Road transport

But the most unsafe form of transport is a car. According to statistics, 1.6 people die per 160 million km, that is, a thousand times more than in plane crashes.

Moreover, this does not apply to two-wheeled vehicles (and mopeds). Their numbers are generally depressing: 42 people per 160 million km.

We hope that now you have not just “heard the ringing, but don’t know where it is,” but are convinced with facts and figures what the safest mode of transport is.

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Thanks to modern transport, we can move freely over long distances. But which transport is the safest? Oddly enough, the safest mode of transport is an airplane. After the plane, the safety of the passenger can be ensured by the train, and only then by the car. This is exactly what the statistics say. More detailed information You can find out more about this below.


First things first - airplanes

Air transport is the safest!


If you choose transport for a trip or travel, then statistics will definitely recommend air travel. Contrary to the opinion of the majority that the plane is the most unreliable and dangerous form of transport, this is not so! And this is all due to the widespread resonance of the ongoing plane crashes in the world. The facts themselves say absolutely the opposite.

Thousands of flights take place around the world every hour. According to statistics, there is only 1 death per 1 million air passengers.


Every plane crash is a news item with a lightning bolt, which is discussed and closely followed by journalists. Whenever there is a major plane crash, shocking footage from the scene of the tragedy and lists of victims are shown on television, and mourning is also declared.

But if you think about it, there are 2-3 major plane crashes a year, and about a dozen small ones, and you can estimate the approximate number of victims, it’s somewhere around 1-2 thousand people a year. Now think about how many car accidents occur every day in which people die? What about per month and per year? In just one month, about 2 thousand people die as a result of car accidents.

Despite large number victims in a plane crash, and after one there is very little chance of survival; the number of victims is tens of times less than in tragedies with other modes of transport.


Recently, the number of plane crashes has decreased by 36%. This is all thanks to the fact that aircraft are constantly being improved in everything, including safety. Before departure, the aircraft undergoes a thorough inspection and check, and the flight itself is controlled by both the aircraft crew and dispatchers on the ground.

Trains after planes

The second safest mode of transport is the train. Statistics say that there are 18 deaths per 1 million passengers.


It is the railway service that most people consider the safest form of transportation, but dry numbers say the opposite. Most likely, this happens because there are rails under the train and they have their own separate route, when there is only air under the plane. Despite the fact that railway accidents also have a resonance, however, it is not as significant as in airplane accidents.

Many might argue that train accidents are no more common than plane accidents, in which fewer people die. However, the number of flights, passengers on them and the distance covered are many times greater than those of other modes of transport.

Auto is unsafe

One of the most unsafe modes of transport are cars. Judging by the figures, there are 62 deaths per 1 million passengers.


– very unsafe. Unlike the previous two modes of transport, here the chances of getting into an accident increase due to other road users who can cause an accident.

And now the numbers

Now let's look at mortality statistics. If above we took into account the number of deaths per total number of passengers, now we will consider the data on the kilometers traveled:

  • Air travel - 0.05 people;

  • Railway communication – 0.9 people;

  • Motor transport – 3.1 people.
However, you can rely on statistics and facts, or you can still hold your opinion based on your personal assumptions. To understand whether flying on airplanes is really dangerous, you should look at official statistics. In 2013, 31 plane crashes were officially registered. It is important to realize that these tragic events did not only happen to Russian planes, this is for the world as a whole, and the number of indicated flights also includes cargo transportation, and not just passenger ones.

It is clear that the number of accidents on highways is much higher. Thus, according to official statistics, only in the first half of the year in the territory Russian Federation There were 62,984 reported road traffic accidents, which is approximately 346 accidents per day.

As for rail transport, the statistics here are less deplorable, but the indicators are far from being comparable to aviation ones. Thus, on the Gorky Railway alone in 2013, there were 17 accidents in which 12 people died. Unfortunately, there are no general statistics on railway accidents for the world as a whole, but in some countries, for example, in India, the situation is much worse than in Russia, so it becomes clear that the number of accidents in absolute terms in air transport is much lower than the same track performance or railways.

When analyzing disasters, it is, of course, worth taking into account the widespread use of cars. But the number of flights per day is quite comparable to the number of trains leaving the stations every day.

The severity of the consequences of a disaster on different modes of transport

As a rule, there are no survivors. However, the same dry statistics indicate that this statement is not entirely true. In 2013, out of 827 people on planes that crashed, 311 died. In road accidents over six months in Russia, 7,801 people died and another 80,330 were injured.

As for railway transport, there is a high mortality rate in road accidents at crossings, but in most incidents while the train is moving, people receive moderate injuries and bruises.

About half of air crashes occur while the aircraft is landing on the ground. Interestingly, about the same proportion of accidents are caused by fatal pilot error.

What type of transport is the least dangerous?

Insurance companies help you understand which type of transport is the least safe, because they constantly study the statistics of disasters on land, in the air and at sea. Interestingly, the lowest rates for insuring cargo transported by sea and by air transport, that is, the probability of an unfavorable outcome here is considered by insurers as lower.

As for passengers, they are insured at a lower percentage at rail transportation and while flying on an airplane. And traveling by ground transport (personal and public) is considered the most risky of all possible types of travel.

Are you afraid to fly, preferring a car or a train? Completely in vain. Today we will determine the safest mode of transport based on dry statistics, which, as it turns out, have little to do with our fears.

It’s not for nothing that we started with fears, because they clearly show to what extent our emotions and speculation can prevail over facts and common sense. It is no coincidence that absolutely all sociological surveys give approximately the same results. People consider the train to be the safest mode of transport, the car comes in second place, and the most dangerous, of course, is the plane. But it gives slightly different results.

There are several methods for calculating mortality in different types of transport in the world. The most accurate and common is the ratio of deaths per segment of the distance traveled. The starting point is considered to be 100 million miles (160 million kilometers).

True, based on these statistics, the safest mode of transport is space transport. After all, in its entire history, only three accidents occurred, and colossal distances were covered. However, space tourism- this is a prospect, although not too distant, but of the future, so we will consider more common means of transportation.

Especially for you: airplane is the safest mode of transport, statistics confirm this 100%. There are 0.6 deaths per 100 million miles. If we take 2014 as an example, there were 21 plane crashes worldwide. Of these, 10 are cargo ships, 11 are passenger ships. A total of 990 people died. This is less than the number of cyclists who died, and even less than the number of people who died in a year at the hands of donkeys.

In total, about 33 million flights were made during the year. On average, there is one accident per 1 million flights. It should be noted that most of them are on small private jets.

The probability of dying in a regular passenger flight crash is extremely small, 1/8,000,000. Even flying every day, it will take 21 millennia to get on that ill-fated flight that crashes.

The myth that there is no chance of survival in a plane crash also has little to do with reality. Aircraft are designed by people who know first-hand about aerodynamics and gravity. Therefore, in order to hit the ground with a bang from a height of 10,000 km, you need to try hard.

Let's turn again to statistics. Over the past 20-plus years, there have been approximately 500 aircraft accidents in the United States. The number of deaths in them was only 5% of the passengers on board at the time of the accident. Even if we ignore minor incidents and analyze only serious disasters with impacts on the ground, the breaking of the aircraft body and fires, the number of survivors in them is approximately 50%.

Rail transport

Statistically, this is the safest type ground transport. The mortality rate from train accidents is 0.9 passengers per 160 million km. It sounds incredible, considering the speed at which ultra-modern trains travel. However, you can't argue with the numbers. At the same time, global statistics are largely spoiled by countries such as, where the concept of safety has a very specific meaning.

Road transport

For every 160 million km traveled, 1.6 people die in road accidents. According to these statistics, a car can easily be considered the most dangerous type of transport. Every year, about 1.2 million people die on the world's roads, which is a thousand times more than in plane crashes. Thus, you are more likely to get into an accident on the way to the airport than to die on the plane itself.

Moreover, these figures apply only to four-wheeled vehicles. If we talk about motorcycles and mopeds, then the mortality rate there is many times higher: 42 people per 160 million km.

Emergency landings: a video showing that even the most difficult situations have a way out.

Comparative characteristics of modes of transport in terms of safety.

When choosing transport, many passengers are guided by their own preferences. Moreover, every second person is mistaken about the relative safety of a particular type of transport. Many people focus on safety when choosing transport. At the same time, there is an opinion that the safest is the train. In this article we will dispel all myths regarding the safety of movement.

The most unsafe and dangerous mode of transport in the world: statistics

Oddly enough, the most dangerous type of transport can be considered a motorcycle. In total, 42 people die per 100 ml miles. This is a huge number, since there are several thousand people per year.

In second place are cars, minibuses and buses. You yourself often witness car accidents. 1.2 people die in car accidents per year. Just think about these numbers.

The rating does not take into account unusual types of transport. That is, there are no dog sleds and spaceships. Otherwise, a spaceship could be considered the safest. But since no one makes intergalactic daily flights yet, statistics speak in favor of the plane.

Many people believe that the plane is the most unsafe form of transport, and this is completely wrong. It is customary in the world to calculate the risk of displacement as the number of victims per 100 million miles. As a result, it turns out that the death rate from the plane is only 0.6 people. In 2016, there were 21 plane crashes, with a total death toll of about a thousand people. You will think that this is a lot. But in fact, more cyclists die each year around the world.



Despite the misconception of many, in first place among safe transport there is an airplane. The mortality rate is very low. Perhaps this is due to the higher speed than the train. Accordingly, it turns out that an airplane flies these 160 kilometers faster than a train. Therefore, the mortality statistics are lower. In principle, mortality directly depends on the speed of transport. On average, per 100 ml of miles, 0.9 people die when traveling by train, and only 0.6 on an airplane. That is, the mortality rate on trains is one and a half times higher than the mortality rate on airplanes.



Nowadays, many people have a lot of phobias about traveling on airplanes. This is due to the fact that colossal accidents occur almost every year, which are discussed in all the media. But this does not mean that flying on airplanes is very dangerous. In fact, many people die from car accidents more people. The most interesting thing is that most people believe that there are no survivors after a plane crash. Actually this is not true. A third of all passengers die. While in a car accident half.

Statistics from insurance companies also speak in favor of the aircraft. In case of a car accident the payments are small, but in case of a plane accident they are simply huge. Therefore, we can agree that no one would pay huge amounts of money if plane crashes happened very often.

According to statistical estimates, which were based on the number of victims in plane crashes, aviation was the safest mode of transport. The second and third places belong to water and railway transport, respectively.

The most interesting thing is that passengers, on the contrary, consider the plane the most dangerous form of transport. This is due to the fact that the media publicize any plane crash. At the same time, few people talk about train accidents. If you resort to statistics, when traveling by plane every day, the probability of death is very low. If you use air transport every day, you could get into a plane crash in the 21st century.



There are certain statistics on the most reliable modes of transport. Insurance companies also confirm this. The most money is given when insuring water and air transport.

Security Statistics:

  1. Airplane
  2. Train
  3. Bus
  4. Automobile
  5. Minibus taxi
  6. Ship
  7. Metro
  8. Bike
  9. Motorbike

According to statistics, you can safely use air transport, it is truly the most reliable.





As you can see, people's opinions and statistics are completely different. Many people are afraid of an airplane, although in fact this type of transport is the safest.

VIDEO: Safe mode of transport

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