How airport security costs lives
Want to save American lives? Stop wasting billions on airport security, said Charles Kenny. Set up in the panicky aftermath of 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration now spends $8 billion a year on intrusive searches, backscatter machines, and other time-consuming security operations that have turned air travel into an ordeal. Is this level of scrutiny still necessary? (click below to read more)
In recent years, the TSA has not spotted a single terrorist trying to board an airline, and more Americans have died in bathtub accidents than through terrorism. Meanwhile, the unpleasant intrusions and long delays caused by airport security have led to an estimated 5 percent reduction in passenger volume, as people elect to drive to their destinations rather than to fly—a trend with lethal costs. A Cornell University study concluded that the switch from air to road transportation has led to 242 additional traffic fatalities per month. This means that “a lot more people died on the roads as an indirect result of 9/11 than died from being on the planes that terrible day.” It’s time to put our fear of terrorism in rational perspective, and stop chasing people away from airports. “Airport security is killing us.”
No comments:
Post a Comment