But just look at the extensive fire regulations which must be followed in hotels and department stores even though compared to car travel the risk of death from such fires is four thousand times less. Our perception of risk is complex and may bear little relation to the objective probabilities. For example surveys have shown that there is a perception among the general population that childhood vaccination is ten times more dangerous than it actually is and the possibility of death from stroke is underestimated by a factor of ten. Also our common sense approach to risk is very unreliable. And who would not think it wise to bet on red in roulette if black had just come up ten times in a row.
Some perceptions are quite irrational.
For example I know mothers who when taking on a new au pair are very frightened that they will run off with the child if there has been even one such case reported. If I hear that a cyclist I know has been injured I am much more cautious than normal although my risk remains the same. Statistics have little impact on such risk assessments. A major error in personal risk assessment probably relates to our inability to make sound judgments when the amount of information is limited. For example, a little while ago there was a suggestion in the United States that a game called 'Dungeons and Dragons' was risky since it might lead to teenage suicide.