Poll Finds Most Americans Have Not Prepared for a Terror Attack

[R.A. Hettinga]

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<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/28/national/28homepoll.html?th=&oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=>

The New York Times
October 28, 2004

Poll Finds Most Americans Have Not Prepared for a Terror Attack
By CALVIN SIMS

mericans are closely divided on whether they think the United States is
prepared to deal with another terrorist attack, but the overwhelming
majority have done nothing to prepare for such an attack themselves,
according to a recent New York Times poll.

 The poll found that most Americans are not worried that they or a family
member will become a victim of terrorism, with the majority of the
respondents saying they do nothing different even when the government
raises the terror-alert level.

The survey was conducted for use in a documentary produced by New York
Times Television on the status of security in the United States.

 While domestic security has been a major issue in the presidential
campaign with Republicans and Democrats warning that another terrorist
attack is inevitable, the Times poll suggests that for most Americans the
issue is not a preoccupation.

 "I guess the reason I'm not terribly worried about it is probably the
location I'm in," Angela Loston, 24, a writer from Dallas, said in a phone
interview after the survey. "Even though I'm in a major city, I am in the
state of Texas, so I don't really see something happening here."

David Ropeik, who teaches risk communications at the Harvard School of
Public Health, said the survey results reflect a well-established,
intuitive human response to risk known as optimism bias, in which
individuals disproportionately believe that they will not be victims of a
peril even though they widely acknowledge that it will occur.

"We see the same phenomenon with smoking, obesity and natural disasters. If
you don't think it will happen to you, then you won't take any
precautions," Mr. Ropeik said. "When it comes to terrorism, there is some
truth here. If an attack happens, it's unlikely that you or I will be a
victim. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be prepared."

In the survey, 46 percent of the respondents said they did not think the
United States was prepared for a terrorist attack, while 43 percent said
the country was prepared. To questions of personal readiness, 61 percent
responded that they did not have a stockpile of food and water at home in
preparation for a terrorist attack. More than 70 percent said they had not
selected a family meeting place in case of an evacuation due to terrorism,
nor had they established a plan to communicate with relatives.

Asked why her family had not designated a gathering place or plan to stay
in touch, Gloria Peters, a retiree from San Pablo, Calif., said, "We really
haven't discussed that, but we should." She added, "The roads are going to
be so packed jammed that it's going to be insane."

The survey found that women were more likely to regard both the country and
their local communities as ill prepared to deal with another attack. Women
are also more apt to express concern that someone in their family could
become a victim of terrorism: 46 percent of women said they were very or
somewhat concerned compared with 26 percent of men.

The Times poll, of 554 adults, was conducted nationwide by telephone Oct.
12 to 13 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four
percentage points.

Citing the federal government's handling of the current flu vaccine
shortage, Eugene Ladisky, a retired engineer from New York, said: "I get
the impression that were there a terrorist attack, our government would let
us fend for ourselves."

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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
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