You’re probably right. The health benefits of walking probably out-weigh the risk of being hit crossing that street.

But that 4000-to-one ratio of deaths due to heart-disease vs car-smack is not a slam-dunk argument in this case. Of the ~2000 people in my neighborhood, only about 100 ever seem to walk anywhere at all. (I’m guessing. I walk around most days, at various times, and I see the same 20 people over and over.) And nobody ever crosses that street. So very very few people ever get the opportunity to get killed as a pedestrian.

At least in the suburbs.

Let’s say that instead of crossing that street I had to swing on a rope across a deep chasm every day. I’m reassured because the CDC tells me that only 2 people/year are killed doing this. But later on I find out that only about 200 people in the entire country ever swing across chasms at all, and many of them only a few times a year.

So I guess I’m saying this is an exceptional activity, and I don’t know how risky it is because so few people partake. Maybe crossing that street is as risky as skydiving? If you’re a skydiver, what’re your odds every time you jump? 0.00009? Or 0.0000001? There’s a big difference. I’ll take the later, but not the former.