[dhussoe]

> Seems we should be very concerned and work hard to avoid smoking, vs random death from a helicopter falling on us?

At a population level maybe... but if you (and your family/friends if you want to consider that too) already don't smoke, there is not much to do? I don't have to work hard to avoid smoking because I am not interested in doing it to begin with, and it is not like cigarettes jump out of bushes and ambush you.

Helicopter crashes aren't common, but traffic violence is mostly treated as normal in the US, and deaths are often brushed off as an unavoidable "accident" with little or no punishment for the perpetrator, or serious consideration of systematically redesigning streets or vehicles to make these deaths less likely. This is something that I cannot "simply" avoid like smoking is.

[Braxton1980]

NYC is doing just that with their vision zero initiative. https://www.nyc.gov/content/visionzero/pages/

Reduction in the speed limit and enforcement with traffic cameras, changes in street design, etc

Per the site traffic fatalities, including pedestrian, were the 2nd lowest level in recorded history for the first three months.