Car Accidents 'Likelier Than Cancer'

The chances of being involved in a traffic accident are higher than of contracting cancer. The Korea Transportation Safety Authority on Tuesday said the probability of experiencing a traffic accident in a lifetime is 35.2 percent and the chance of dying in one is 1.02 percent.

In other words, one out of three people experience a traffic accident during lifetime and one in 100 people dies. The probability of getting cancer is 34.4 percent for men and 28.9 percent for women.

The KTSA said in 2008 one person was injured in a car accident every 90 seconds, and one person died in one every 90 minutes.

It analyzed the number of traffic accidents and victims between 2004 and 2008 on the assumption that the average life expectancy is 80 (76 for men and 83 for women as of 2008).