# Most Dangerous Means of Transportation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-dangerous-means-of-transportation/548793>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 1, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-dangerous-means-of-transportation/548793 "2010-08-01T14:56:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 53

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**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-dangerous-means-of-transportation/548793/53 "2010-08-03T05:51:01Z")

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> [@Heracles](#):
>
> > [@Chronos](#):
> >
> > Although, come to think of it, most of the miles the Shuttle travels aren’t really “traveling”, in the sense of going from a starting place to a destination. The Shuttle’s destination is just low earth orbit, which is only a few hundred miles, tops, from its starting point. So by that measure, it’s again one of the most dangerous, and might even beat motorcycles.
> 
> Actually, the destination is the landing strip. Which in most cases is at KSC, only a few km from the launch pad…

And when you drive to the grocery store, is your “destination” your own driveway? No, it’s the store.

I think **Chronos** had the right idea. The Shuttle’s _travel_ was round trips between the planet’s surface and orbit. Those are the destinations which made its movement purposeful. The repeated circlings of the earth, maintaining orbit, aren’t travel in the same sense. Rocks do the same thing.

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