The recent disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is a horrifying tragedy. The loss of any aircraft during a flight is frightening, but the sheer number of people aboard Flight 370 — 239 in total between passengers and crew members — makes it all the more saddening.
With that said, as families and others memorialize the victims, the disappearance should raise awareness about things overlooked in both air travel and transportation in general. Since the events of 9/11, the U.S. and the international community at large have been extraordinarily vigilant about preventing additional terrorist attacks. The steps taken to stop terrorism have undoubtedly made it harder for a plot similar to 9/11 to be successful in the future.
However, lost in all of the concern about terrorism is a discussion about how to address the more common dangers of travel. While terrorism remains a genuine threat to airline safety, it is far from the only one. Turbulence, bad weather, mechanical failure and pilot error are all still very real dangers that travelers face every time they board an airplane.
These risks aren’t mentioned to scare people into backing out of their Maymester trip to Spain, or driving instead of flying the next time they go home for fall break. Rather, they are listed as a reminder that the current mindset that prioritizes combating terrorism is misguided and overlooks other risks.
Even if the thought of terrorism scares people from flying, it is important to note that car accidents occur much more frequently and claim the lives of significantly more people per year than terrorist attacks and incidents like the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 combined.
Instead of proposing more Tranportation Security Administration agents, embarrassing body scans and degrading pat-downs at the airport, more money should be spent on investigating drunken driving crashes, building safer roads and arresting those responsible for hit-and-run accidents. The train tracks that cross Assembly Street and pass by Sonic and the Greek Village are a perfect example of a dangerous crossing that could be improved. Nearly 34,000 people in the U.S. die every year in car accidents, far more than the 3,000 killed on 9/11.
Yet, despite this disparity in fatal incidents, the TSA has an annual budget of $7.4 billion, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a budget of only $981 million. These figures indicate that funding is being terribly misallocated, and that our priorities are backwards.
Promising to stop at nothing to fight terrorism might make for a great campaign slogan for someone running for Congress, but it’s not the most cost-effective way of saving lives.
A better approach is to work on finding and prosecuting those responsible for killing others while driving irresponsibly. If the U.S. spent the same amount of time and money focusing on ways to reduce traffic collisions and prevent drunk driving as we currently do fighting terrorism, countless lives could be saved.