Rick, good post. Wouldn't there be at least one other variable involved besides just the probability of the event occurring that affects people's behavior in assessing risk of uncertain events? Like in economic analysis of risk, the cost or impact of the event if it occurs is a significant factor in determining behavior. So for younger people, they are not only assessing the probability of the event occurring, but the potential impact on them, which many young people feel is low (one could argue that it's not just about the impact on themselves, but that's another variable). Therefore, younger people are not as concerned about reducing risk as older people are due to the perceived lower cost of the impact of the event on them personally.