A recent forum post about the tragic loss of 12 year old Tyler Morr spawned a lot of emotion about the dangers of child race car drivers. Though the opinions were strong against and, for children in the seat of a race car, it was never clear how dangerous racing is. So, I did a little research and discovered that perishing in controlled auto racing is far less likely than from any of the other motorized recreational vehicles. I've also included some other mortality rates other than motorized vehicles, the findings may surprise you.
Most of the data was compiled in 2006. Some data has no date, rather a nation wide mortality number per year.
Motorcycles: 2006 North Carolina suffered over 10 deaths/10,000 souls; Nation wide average death rate was 7.3/10,000 souls; 4810 motorcycle fatalities in 2006 nation wide.
4-Wheeler: 2006 1.1/10,000; 171.5 injuries/10,000; 2004 data shows 44,000 children under age 16 injured w/150 fatalities nation wide.
Family Auto: 2006- 1.8/10,000; 48,411 fatalities nation wide
Bicycle: 2010 statistics; 618 nation wide
Horse: 2006; 219 deaths nation wide
Dog: 14 deaths nation wide
Firearm: 1464 deaths nation wide (seems low)
Drowning: 1030 deaths nation wide
Electrocution by home wiring/products: 131 souls lost.
In 2006, all professional racing worldwide: 4 fatalities. Though this does not reflect deaths from all racing series, the fatality rate of auto racing is less than any possibility of dying listed above.
Is racing safe? No. Is it dangerous? Of course. Is the chance of being killed by a bee greater than dying in a stock car?
[numbers based on an average/year in the U.S.]
| Bee/Wasp | 53 |
| Dogs | 31 |
| Spider | 6.5 |
| Rattlesnake | 5.5 |
| Mountain lion | 1 |
| Shark | 1 |
| Alligator | 0.3 |
| Bear | 0.5 |
| Scorpion | 0.5 |
| Centipede | 0.5 |
| Elephant | 0.25 |
| Wolf | 0.1 |
| Horse | 20 |
| Bull | 3 |
Do your own research, what other recreational vehicles do we consider relatively safe?
