Still, people subject themselves to far greater risks every day. Drivers and passengers weren't wearing seat belts, however, in more than 40 percent of those 41,471 deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But people largely understand the risks they choose, such as not wearing seat belts, as opposed to the risks that are imposed on them, such as faulty equipment. And that helps explain a good part of the nation's intense reaction to the news that 62 deaths and 100 injuries have been linked to tread unraveling on certain models of Firestone tires over the last eight years, consumer and risk perception experts said. The federal highway safety agency says it has received about 750 complaints about possibly defective Firestone tires.
Critics say the tire recall needs to be wider.
But there's no such thing as a perfectly safe vehicle, and it's unlikely there ever will be, the experts said. It's not a normal risk with a tire.'' People's perceptions about risk with a car or truck depend on whether they trust a company, said David Ropeik, risk communication director for the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. If people perceive that a company's behavior is untrustworthy, their fear will be greater, he said. Also, people's perceptions of risk depend on whether they made a choice knowing a risk, he said. That makes you perceive the risk as higher,'' he said.