Did anyone here catch the new episode of Family Guy that aired 5/8/16? Peter makes a derogatory comment about Amtrak's poor safety record, and typical of the show, Peter then breaks the four wall and offers a legal defense of that comment by listing all the accidents Amtrak has had. While just a cartoon, it is one of the most negative comments about Amtrak I have seen aired during prime-time.
90% of the people who watch family guy never even look up anything that's on the show, or it goes over their head.
Okay, so how does Amtrak safety compare to that of passenger rail operators in other industrialized democracies?
What does "Amtrak safety" have to do with "family guy" whatever that might be, I dunno. From the "family guy" screenwriters viewpoint - maybe a cheap ingnorant joke.
What's more dangerous than riding Amtrak?
Crossing the street. Being in a hospital. Visiting a doctor. Eating peanuts. Annoying your mother-in-law. Eating a salad or a underdone burger. Driving 20 miles. Eating in any restaurant. Eating what you cook yourself. Joining the Navy. Going for a walk. Having sex. Jogging. Eating "health supplements" Going outdoors in a thunderstorm. Staying indoors in a thunderstorm. Sheesh!
But yeah, DA, it would be interesting to compare actual Amtrak risk to other nations rail riding risk. From what I've read, in the last 30 years, Norway and India would be more dangerous, Japan and Netherlands less dangerous, but where the actual stats are I don't know or care.
Because the risk from riding trains anywhere is so much tinier than the risk from eating peanuts (not the allergy risk, the aflatoxin risk)
how to measure tiny relative risk, like trains in various places -- is difficult -- because the risk is so small.
The risk of "getting drunk" in various places is (how many times) more.