Just in from WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, after he checked out a motor-vehicle-accident callout in The Junction. Christopher says he saw one woman getting treated by paramedics, but no major damage to her car.
Are minor car accidents really newsworthy? If I were rear-ended somewhere in our part of the city, I would hope that I wouldn’t find myself on the front page of this blog.
There is a lot of great reporting on this site but I question whether photos of smashed cars are worth publishing just because you have them.
Obviously it is not a private matter when something happens on a public street, but I still don’t see the point.
Rex: I suppose you could just skip over the articles you don’t find newsworthy. No one is forcing you to read every item. You raise an interesting question though. The mainstream news media seem to agree with you. They LOVE to cover aircraft incidents. Even “near-misses” and hard landings when no one is hurt. Many people have an irrational fear of flying as a result. But the fact is that flying is much safer than driving. That auto accidents kill more than 40,000 people every year in the US seems to somehow escape notice. (Take note of the number of car commercials you see during the evening news as a suggestion why) Driving cars is dangerous. Maybe coverage of some of these wrecks will remind people to slow down and be careful.
That’s what a neighborhood news site is for – in case you heard the sirens and/or saw the flashing lights, here’s what happened. My only regret is that we don’t have the capability to post more of what happens on a day-to-day basis – if it’s not something we can get to ourselves, we rely on contributors and readers, and they’re already doing a heroic job sharing info on what’s up. (Thank you again to everyone who has ever e-mailed or called with pix/info/tips!)
Jamie- I know this is off-topic a bit, but if my car were 40,000 feet above the earth, I would agree with you that driving is more dangerous than flying. Since I have the chance to walk away from- and thru observant driving, avoid- most crashes- yet when I am on a plane I am at the mercy of a pilot, weather conditions, mechanical failure, etc…..I think I will stick to my car. :)
The airplane thing is statiscally correct but I believe most people are more likely to be injured by autos. I believe in fate to a degree and from past experiences also that when your number is up, it’s up, but how do you get 140 or so people on the same airplane who’s number is also up? Plus an airplane crash with 20 fatalities makes a lot more news than 20 single car deaths. Sad, but true.
There are indeed about 40,000 automotive deaths in the US each year compared with about 200 in air transport (including private aviation). Your chance of dying in a car accident in your lifetime is roughly about 1000 times greater than winning a state lottery in any given year. If you crunch the numbers, each year 1 in 6800 drivers in the US dies in an auto accident. The rate for airline passengers is 1 in 1.6 million. On a death per passenger mile basis, flying is more than 20-30 times safer than driving. If you boarded an airliner every day for the rest of your natural life, on average you would have to live 29,000 years before experiencing an accident in an airplane and even then the odds are good that you would survive.
JenV: Your logic is shaky. There is very little that can potentially hit a plane at 40,000 feet. But on an average trip through town, through hundreds of intersections, there are multiples of potential objects vectoring towards you. Though you may THINK you are in control of your car, you cannot control all of the others on the road with you. Statistically, most airplane accidents are not caused by weather or mechanical failure. They are caused by pilot error (controlled flight into terrain). And every time a plane crashes flying gets safer. Cars are much more susceptible to weather. Plane accidents and crashes make more sensationalist stories but cars are exponentially more dangerous. Wear your seat belts!
Jamie- in my former life I was an auto claims adjuster. I know the reality behind auto accidents. I am petrified of flying, and no one will convince me otherwise. Well, maybe Jose Cuervo….
Cheers!
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