http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/causes.html?source=DeathClock
Accident as a Cause of Death
Accidents are the third leading cause of death for males in the United States, but only the seventh leading cause of death for women. The following tables summarize statistics concerning types of accidental death.
TYPES OF ACCIDENTAL DEATHS, USA 1992
(1) Motor vehicle (MVA)47%
(2) Falls 14%
(3) Poison,liq/solid 6%
(4) Drowning 5%
(5) Fires, Burns 5%
(6) Choking 3%
(7) Firearms 2%
(8) Poison gas 1%
For an itemized list of death rates for the top 50+ causes of accidental death, see
What Are the Odds of Dying? (National Safety Council).
The five leading causes of fatal accidental death have remained the same between 1970 and 1998, and these top 5 account for 80% of all accidental deaths. Forty percent of deaths from acts of nature are due to floods.
Motor vehicle fatalities are the leading cause of death for people between ages 1-29, and the rate is particularly high between the ages of 15-24. A 16-year-old has 3 times the crash risk of an 18-year-old and 7 times the crash risk of a 25-year-old.
Driving under the influence of
alcohol is the most important cause of death in automobile accidents -- followed by driver fatigue. The percentage of traffic fatalities attributed to alcohol dropped from 57.2% in 1982 to 45% in 1992. The figure is probably much higher, because amounts of alcohol below the legal level of intoxication (
all amounts of alcohol) reduce cognitive & physical function. More than a third of pedestrians killed by a motor vehicle fatalities in 1992 were intoxicated.
For non-motor vehicle accidents in the United States between 1975-1995 33%, ethanol intoxication accounted for 32% of fatal falls, 42% of fatal fires/burns, 34% of fatal drownings and 29% of fatal poisonings. 32% of homicide victims and 23% of suicide victims were intoxicated [ANNALS OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE 33(6):659-701 (1999)].
Drivers of Sport-Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are especially vulnerable to fatal rollovers. Rollover accidents account for only 3% of all U.S. motor-vehicle accidents, but they cause nearly a third of all vehicle-occupant fatalities. And SUV occupant is 3 times as likely to die as a result of a rollover than an occupant of a passenger car.
The chances of dying in an automobile accident in 1953 was
four times greater than in 2003, based on fatalities per mile driven in the United States. Better roads & medical care along with tougher drunk-driving laws have been attribued to some of this difference. But there was considerable improvement in vehicle safety features over the 50-year period. Significant safety improvements included power brakes, front disc brakes, four-wheel antilock brake systems, radial-ply tires, penetration-resistant windshields, padded dashboards, collapsible stearing columns, auto-body structures that crumple around passenger compartments, lap-and-shoulder safety belts, dual air bags and sun visors.
Road fatalities in the US fell from 52,627 in 1970 to 42,116 yearly while in the same period road fatalities in Germany fell from 21,000 to 6,949 per year. A large part of the difference is attributed to Electronic Stability Control (ECS) which is found in half of German cars, but only 6% of those in the USA.
On a per-mile basis the risk of dying on a 1,000 mile airline flight are about equivalent to the risks of dying while driving 1,000 miles, because most flying deaths occur on take-off and landing. (Longer flights are safer.) Commuter planes crash more than twice as often as planes of large airlines -- and the crash rate is Alaska is considerably higher due to so many inexperienced bush-pilots. Less pilot experience is also the reason given for the greater danger from commuter flights.
The death rate per driven mile is more than 35 times higher for motorcycles than it is for cars. The per-mile death rate is also higher for bicyclists. Two-thirds of bicycle fatalities occur due to traffic violations and 90% involve collisions with motor vehicles.
TYPES OF ACCIDENTAL DEATHS INVOLVING MOTOR VEHICLES, USA 1992
(1) Between vehicles 43%
(2) With fixed object 27%
(3) Pedestrian 16%
(4) Noncollision 10%
(5) Collision pedacycle2%
(6) Collision train 1%
50% of MVA deaths were at night
50% of MVA deaths involve intoxicants in driver
62% of MVA deaths were rural
65% OF MVA pedestrian deaths were urban
25% of urban MVA deaths were pedestrian
55% OF FATAL MVAS INVOLVED TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS
TRAFFIC VIOLATION
(1) Driving at unsafe speed 16.5%
(2) Failure to yield right-of-way 7.8%
(3) Crossed the centre line 7.5%
(4) Passed stop sign 2.6%
(5) Improper overtaking 2.5%
(6) Disregarded a signal 2.2%
(7) Followed too closely 0.6%
(8) Other violations 15.3%
