Indirect effects

According to Raj Persaud in today's Independent newspaper, 'More people died trying to avoid the fate of the 9/11 passengers than died on the four crashed planes'

He cites research by Prof. Gerd Gigerenzer of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development that suggests an increase in road fatalities in the US could be directly linked with a change in behaviour intended to reduce the chance of being killed in a hijacked plane: driving instead of flying.

Professor Gigerenzer demonstrates that, as a direct result of this switch, the number of fatal car crashes increased significantly in the last three months of 2001 compared with the same period in the year before. Because of the extra road traffic, 353 more people died in traffic accidents than would have done, a rise of 8 per cent.

For the full article see The Independent