With the talk of the ATP rule and safety, I came to this realization recently and I'm going to throw it in here. This is probably my first time doing anything that could be considered "flame bait".

Libertarians like John Stossel often argue that government regulations can wind up making the public less safe, for various reasons. Using the same logical process, it's possible that the ATP rule will actually result in more transportation-related deaths and casualties. Here's how:

1- The ATP rule makes it substantially more difficult to become an airline pilot, which could maybe potentially cause difficulty for the airlines (regionals) to staff their flights.
2-This will cause the product (air travel) to become more expensive or limited in supply (airlines may have to cut service).
3- People will still want to go to Disney World and visit grandma, so those people who can no longer fly will drive or take busses, which are fundamentally more dangerous and result in more highway casualties, which will probably outweigh the reduction in casualties from more experienced pilots.