When you make flying less attractive, people are more likely to drive. Driving is orders of magnitude more dangerous, so people die in car crashes who wouldn't have if they had flown.
Security makes flying less attractive because:
- higher monetary cost for the flight (some of this is reflected in explicit "security fees", some not)
- bigger time commitment due to having to arrive early to allow for security
- bigger chance of missing the flight (if you're the sort of person who tends to cut it close on time)
- less flexibility. For instance, before the modern security era you could just buy a ticket and then if it turns out you couldn't use it you could sell it on craigslist. Or if the flight was overbooked you could directly sell your ticket to somebody on standby - the airlines didn't care.
- greater chance of being stolen from because you are forcibly separated from your valuables which are accessed out of your sight.
- greater stress due to the fear of losing one's valuables.
- more stress due to fears related to dealing with security personnel, long lines, being treated like sheep, having one's personal space invaded and more.
The most DIRECT way all this translates into extra deaths is that fewer people fly so more die on the road. One INDIRECT way it translates into extra deaths is that fewer people travel at all (or do so more expensively) which damages economic growth; economic growth tends to promote health.
> Even if I grant that it saved no lives, it's not obvious to me how it caused any.
This is discussed elsewhere in the thread, mainly here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8220129
When you make flying less attractive, people are more likely to drive. Driving is orders of magnitude more dangerous, so people die in car crashes who wouldn't have if they had flown.
Security makes flying less attractive because:
- higher monetary cost for the flight (some of this is reflected in explicit "security fees", some not)
- bigger time commitment due to having to arrive early to allow for security
- bigger chance of missing the flight (if you're the sort of person who tends to cut it close on time)
- less flexibility. For instance, before the modern security era you could just buy a ticket and then if it turns out you couldn't use it you could sell it on craigslist. Or if the flight was overbooked you could directly sell your ticket to somebody on standby - the airlines didn't care.
- greater chance of being stolen from because you are forcibly separated from your valuables which are accessed out of your sight.
- greater stress due to the fear of losing one's valuables.
- more stress due to fears related to dealing with security personnel, long lines, being treated like sheep, having one's personal space invaded and more.
The most DIRECT way all this translates into extra deaths is that fewer people fly so more die on the road. One INDIRECT way it translates into extra deaths is that fewer people travel at all (or do so more expensively) which damages economic growth; economic growth tends to promote health.