Motorcycle crash statistics tell a very different story. And unlike saw injuries, there are a lot of statistics to to compare when it comes to motorcycle crashes. It is troubling how easy it is for people to convince themselves that something is factual without having any real proof. I think that we are all guilty, more of less of accepting that something is true, when it isn't.
Pete
Pete, firstly congrats on working to your new saw. You’ve put a lot of thought on this and gained advice from most every quarter to steer your final decision. Nothing that follows is meant to argue a point, but rather to add some of the known data.
While there is more and better data on motorcycle crashes, there is reasonable data on table saw injuries. As in medicine, I think it is good for the serious woodworker to have a handle on the available data. Research, databases, analysis, and conclusions always have limitations. Nonetheless, understanding what is actual known is important in my opinion. We make decisions in medicine all of the time using a combination of data (with all its warts), experience, and judgement. I would pose that this no different.
Here is a link to a review article
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4154236/#!po=28.9474
This peer reviewed publication appeared in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, a respected journal. The publication is a review of existing literature and databases and the work was funded by the National Institutes of Health. There is discussion of Sawstop technology, but again the article and work were not funded by Sawstop. The references at the end provide links to other related studies.
Some of the highlights:
Estimated 30,000 table saw hand injuries per year, ranging from lacerations to amputations
Vast majority of TS injuries involve skin to blade contact (minority from kickback/other that does not induce skin-blade contact)
mean age 50 yo
30 some percent of injured with 10+ yr experience
Many had the blade guard removed
No significant change in the incidence of TS hand injuries after the 2005 riving knife requirement.
There is much more, but a formal literature review is beyond the scope of a forum post.
This study is older but notable because it looks at all non-occupational finger amputations:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196064404015513?via=ihub
Of note, power saws were responsible for 20% of all non-occupational finger amputations
From a different perspective, the main risks to us in everyday life are the much more common heart disease, cancer, debilitating chronic illness,etc. My impression from participating in the forum over time is that these non-woodworking risks, as expected, show up more frequently as life events in our group. For most of us, Woodworking is a choice, and we generally know the risks. Injuries can affect others (family, workplace, health $), but predominately you are making risk decisions that impact you.
i can post more studies or list some of the databases used as injury sources, but I posted this to increase awareness of available data (good or bad) and facilitate some exploration of the data for those interested.