Hacker News Reader

Don't you think it would have been more honest to say:

* …115 kidnapped… 2,000 are killed in auto accidents… *

(Presumably that number is correct. I got from some ambulance chasing lawyer's site, but he suggested it was a real number.)

View on HN

It depends on the point you want to make. 250,000 is presumably the number of kids injured in all automobile accidents, 2000 sounds reasonable for the 2-block drive to school. But it goes to show that parents will willingly and without a thought of the risk involved subject their kids to an activity that hurts 250,000 kids per year (and presumably also without any risk of being charged with child endangerment.)

I wonder how many get hit by cars careening onto the sidewalk, while walking to school alone, while evading would-be kidnappers?

Actually, the point I failed to make was that the original statistics compare the serious event of kidnapping to all injuries, however minor. They should compare to the serious injuries, like death, which is less than 1% of the larger number.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com