What's Your Chance of Being A Victim?

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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1DF133DF936A25750C0A961948260

Here's some reliable info for those of us that "it will never happen to". According to thisDoJ I have about a 60% chance of being the victim of a violent crime (Attempts: Rape, Robbery and Assault)during the remainder of my lifetime.

In terms of the seat belt argument does anyone have any reliable information on how likely you are to be in a serious automobile accident?

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Interesting reading.

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The article is kind of old it was published in '87.

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In terms of the seat belt argument does anyone have any reliable information on how likely you are to be in a serious automobile accident?

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I don't know any of the stats but I have been in two serious automobile accidents and several minor ones. However neither anyone in my immediate family nor I have never been the victim of a violent crime. Not sure what your point is.

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PT111 wrote:

In terms of the seat belt argument does anyone have any reliable information on how likely you are to be in a serious automobile accident?

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I don't know any of the stats but I have been in two serious automobile accidents and several minor ones. However neither anyone in my immediate family nor I have never been the victim of a violent crime. Not sure what your point is.

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I think that if you get the $hit beat out of you your chances of a car accident go up.

At least that's how I read it.

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I've never been the victim of a violent crime either. I am 32 years old and have only been in one car accident. It was a single car accident in which I was uninjured. I was wearing my seatbelt, but if I hadn't been, I still wouldn't have been injured because of the nature of the crash. Thus, I have yet to "need" a gun or a seatbelt to protect me.

I think the poster's point was that many people think we are nuts for carrying a gun for self-defense, but think it is completely reasonable to always where a seatbelt. If a person has an 83% chance of being a victim of a violent crime during the course of their lifetime, and the chance of being in a serious car accident is similar, than it strengthens the analogy that carrying a gun for self defense is just as good of an idea as wearing a seatbelt to protect against a serious auto accident.

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I am pretty sure everyone has been in a car accident. Lots of people have been in a few. I know my life has been saved by a belt quite a few times throughout my life and will be saved again by one.

I don't think that is a good counter argument

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The Kleck interview was published in 93' and the VCDL still uses it. What's another six years?

I think some of us may be missing the point of the post. On the "Why do you carry" forum there is a lot of discussion about what you can say when asked by a non-OC'r why you carry. One of the more popular responses is "Why do you wear a seat belt?"

Well according to this article, which ison theNY Times site (a gun-unfriendly news outlet according to the NRA), we have a pretty good chance of being a victim of violent crime. How does this compare to the statistical chance of being in a automobile accident where your life would be threatened if you were not wearing a seat belt?

I just didn't think the "seat belt argument"would be very effectiveif your chances of being in a serious accident were 1 in 10 and the chances of being the victim of a violent crime were 1 in 100,000 (example, not a statistic).

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hsmith wrote:

I am pretty sure everyone has been in a car accident. Lots of people have been in a few. I know my life has been saved by a belt quite a few times throughout my life and will be saved again by one.

I don't think that is a good counter argument

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Are we talking car on car, car on stationary object, or car on animal? I've never hit or been hit by another car nor have I ever hit another object. The only thing I've hit is a deer that jumped in front of me, and my seatbelt had no effect on the outcome.I would be willing to bet there are a LOT of people that have never needed their seatbelt.

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The current age of a person is the determinant factor in the likelihood of becoming a victim. The younger one is, the more likely one is to be a victim in one's lifetime. The most likely victims are the twelve year olds. Time to arm the twelve year olds!

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Bundabar wrote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1DF133DF936A25750C0A961948260

Here's some reliable info for those of us that "it will never happen to". According to thisDoJ I have about a 60% chance of being the victim of a violent crime (Attempts: Rape, Robbery and Assault)during the remainder of my lifetime.

In terms of the seat belt argument does anyone have any reliable information on how likely you are to be in a serious automobile accident?

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The information, the statistics, may be reliable but the interpretation and application by the innumerate readers are not.

A good standard of acceptable risk is that which we accept every day in going about our lives. Knowing that, we don't have to be in the population sample to whom these statistics do apply. Carry a personal defense weapon thus arming yourself with at least one of wits, guns or the truth.