Why Can't We Get a Handle on This Safety Thing 1

Later on, you might laugh about the ignorant attitude of the "wuffo." Or, you might wonder, "Why is it, after all these years, that the public still doesn't understand? Why can't we educate them about what hang gliding is really like, and how safe and reasonable it really is?"
So now let me ask you another question. What if they're right? What if they're right and we're wrong? And what if I can prove it to you?
Let's take a look. First of all, you have to admit that year after year we continue to kill ourselves at a pretty depressing rate. Anyone who has been around this sport for very long has probably lost at least one friend or acquaintance to a fatal hang gliding accident. Most of us who have been around for more than 20 years have lost more than we care to think about. It's true that we have seemingly made some improvement in the overall numbers in the last 25 years. Between 1974 and 1979 we averaged 31 fatalities per year. Since 1982 we've averaged about 10 per year. In the last six or eight years, we may have dropped that to seven per year. On the other hand, what has happened to the denominator in that equation? In 1978 there were 16 U.S. manufacturers viable enough to send teams to the manufacturer's competition in Telluride. Today we don't even have a manufacturer's competition. My guess is that the fatality rate hasn't changed much, and almost certainly hasn't improved in the last 10 years. I'd guess it's about one per thousand per year, which is what I guessed it was 10 years ago.
So the question is why? The equipment gets better and more high tech every year, we know more about teaching than ever, we've got parachutes, rockets to deploy them, full-face Kevlar helmets, wheels, and FM radios for emergency rescue. We're all about 20 years older, and commensurably wiser and more conservative. How come we're not safer? I've been asking myself variations of this question for as long as I can remember. Three ye