ABSTRACT
Transportation accidents are a major public health problem in most societies, with motor vehicle accidents the leading cause of accidental death in most cases. Motor vehicle crashes in the United States alone are responsible for "between 44,000 and 52,000 deaths and between 4 million and 5 million injuries each year" (Baker, O'Neill, Ginsberg, & Li, 1992). There are approximately 2000 road fatalities in Australia each year, and even in a small country such as New Zealand the annual road death toll is between 500 and 600. Whilst the annual number of fatalities associated with general aviation accidents is very much less, at around 750 for the U.S. and 28 for the U.K., the rates of death and injury for participants in aviation appear to be much greater. For example, approximately 72 out of every 100,000 general aviation pilots in the U.S. are killed each year, compared to around 25 per 100,000 male drivers (Baker & Lamb, 1989).
