Results.— From 1964 to 1995, a total of 495 hot-air balloon crashes involving 1533 persons were reported and included 92 fatalities and 384 serious injuries. Pilot error or incapacitation was determined subjectively by crash investigators to contribute to 85.1% of the crashes. In univariate analysis, collision with the ground was the most significant predictor of a fatality or serious injury, and power-line contact was the most significant predictor of fatality. In multiple logistic regression, only the type of object struck by a balloon predicted a fatal crash or a fatality or serious injury.
Conclusions.— Although a number of factors likely contribute to increased severity of hot-air balloon crashes, the object struck during a crash is most predictive of fatality or serious injury. Preventive efforts are needed to decrease future injuries.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/279/13/1011
It would be a waste of time checking vehicle deaths, you know what the results would be.
Yes, when you fall out of the sky you tend to get hurt.
In the only balloon fatality that I personally witnessed, that's how the guy died. However, the cause of the fatality wasn't the impact, but the fact that the top panel on the balloon failed, causing it to deflate while in flight.
But the bottom line is that the raw numbers are meaningless. The relevant statistics would be per passenger mile, or per passenger trip. And you would have to sort out the trips to the mall from other trips for the numbers to be relevant to the claim made in post 7 to me.