Heart breaking statistics

2:56 AM Wed 30 Dec 2009 GMT

'Bill Barry-Cotter (driver) and Peter McGrath running into serious trouble during a European offshore race.' Maritimo Click Here to view large photo

Powerboat racing dangerous? Not as dangerous as the family sedan.

Powerboat-World is not really the place to discuss traffic fatalities, but when checking for some background material I could not help but recall something I wrote last week.

You may recall a story in which I criticised some European newspapers which suggested the possibility that offshore powerboat racing could be banned for being 'too dangerous.'

I suggested in that story that powerboat racers were more likely to die in an automobile accident on their way to the races rather than in an actual race.

This 'uninformed comment' stemmed from the tragic deaths of Class 1 racers Jean-Marc Sanchez and Mohammad Al Mehairi during the Dubai Grand Prix.

In criticising the newspaper reports, I suggested the motor car was the real killer, not powerboats, and pointed out that 21 Australians had already died on our roads during what is termed 'the Christmas break.'

Sadly, that was only the start of worse to come; as of December 29, viewed as the end of the Christmas period, 54 of our people have lost their lives on the nation's roads.

More than 42,000 (think of it, 42,000!!!) Americans will have been killed during the USA Christmas period.

Worldwide, there has been (or will be) in excess of 1.2 million people killed in traffic accidents, with an estimated 20 million injured.

I find these statistics disturbing, to say the least.

Unfortunately, smarter people than I have been unable to come up with an answer to what in most cases could be termed 'avoidable loss of life.'

Please, people, be careful out there.

by Bob Wonders

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