After disease, cars are the leading cause of death in just about any country wealthy enough to have cars
No, they're far down the list. Less than 2% of all deaths are from auto accidents, fewer than influenza and pneumonia and 20x less than cardiovascular diseases.
2% is exactly the proportion I was trying to convey and it's plenty to make my point, which is that an automated system would surely be scrapped for killing half that many people, even though it would be saving millions of lives.
Systems that become safer by scaling back automation are anomalies. In general, efforts are better spent improving the automation.
The man vs machine dichotomy is contrived anyway. We personify and blame machines as a scapegoat. I prefer to think of automated systems simply as tools, extensions of human capability. Tools don't screw up, we screw up making them or using them.
automobile accidents is the first non-disease on the list, so i think the original claim is correct, even if the lack of statistics blow it out of proportion.
IMHO, people underestimate the risk of death and injury from driving. while inciting fear is not really a good educational tactic, i can understand the frustration. my response is to wear a helmet whenever i go for long highway rides. and to avoid transportation as much as possible. (*obviously not for everyone)
edit - disease effects a different crowd than motor vehicles, which i think is part of the risk/cost evaluation.
No, they're far down the list. Less than 2% of all deaths are from auto accidents, fewer than influenza and pneumonia and 20x less than cardiovascular diseases.
http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/death_stats.html