Auto vs. Air Safety

The recent publicity on the Firestone incident brings to mind the differences between how we deal with auto-related deaths as compared with the airlines.

If we compare numbers of fatalities, there is a far greater number on the highways. The investigation of apparent cause seems to be fairly rapid and relatively complete by the Federal Aviation Administration, but slow in the case of the highway fatalities. Why?

If a Firestone tire had failed and caused even a few fatalities on an airliner a few years ago, what would have happened by now?

RICHARD D. DAVIS

Claremont