Why We Ignore Danger

Back in March LiveScience had a post on why people don't heed tornado warnings. While specifically done around the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak in February 2008 the information the Weather Service discovered is helpful.

Several interviewees said they spent time seeking confirmation of a tornado and went to a safe location only after they saw a twister.

The report also found that many people minimized the threat of personal risk through a thought process called "optimism bias," the belief that such bad things only happen to other people.

The new report also found that the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings on average 17 minutes in advance of all the deadly tornadoes, and that communities and citizens received those warnings and were aware of them.
(Emphasis added.)