Minimizing inter city transportation risk--a matter of perspective.

Car, aeroplane and train travel have different risk characteristics that influence the safety ranking between them. The ranking depends on the range of distances compared. It also depends on what we mean by risk. Three reasonable interpretations of risk are presented. They are applied to Swedish transportation statistics. The results reveal that there is a safety niche for each of the three alternatives. That is, car, aeroplane and train each have a certain claim to being the safest means of transportation.