Travel is the act of human beings between different remote geographical locations. Travel can be in a number of ways, such as by land, air, sea or bus; with luggage or no luggage, and may be one-way or round trip, with any number of stopovers. With today’s technological advancements, traveling by road is becoming increasingly difficult due to bad roads, increasing speed limits, accidents, wildlife and theft, among others. To get around these problems, more people now opt for planes than trains or buses for traveling. However, despite the many obvious advantages of planes over other modes of travel, some questions are still raised about whether flying is still the best option for traveling, or if you would be better off using another mode of transportation.
According to a recent study conducted by the Rand Corporation, it was found that traveling by plane presents a significant increased risk of mortality compared to traveling in other modes. This research looked at thousands of accidents between airplanes and reported on by the media. It has been found, “The risk of death is eight times higher in an airplane accident than in a non-crash car accident and five times higher in a plane crash than in a non-airline passenger transport accident.” The study further stated that, “rates of serious physical injury are significantly higher in airplane crashes than in other passenger transport accidents.”
Another research study done by Cornell University, revealed that there are a number of shortcomings that come with flying. One of the main drawbacks that the researchers noted is the fact that you have no control over the weather conditions during the flight, and the plane will not be able to avoid getting caught in severe weather conditions. Moreover, travelers are faced with stricter rules and regulations, which make flying more difficult. Furthermore, there are several restrictions imposed on the airline industry by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which makes flying more difficult and expensive.