Time to refocus: Odds of accidentally dying are getting worse
National Safety Council digitizes nearly 100 years of injury and fatality data to help Americans understand their greatest safety challenges
While many Americans fear flying, violence and natural disasters, the odds of dying from preventable, everyday incidents are far greater – the greatest ever, in fact, in United States history. A person’s lifetime odds of dying from any unintentional cause have risen to one in 25 – up from odds of one in 30 in 2004, according to National Safety Council analysis. Every 10 minutes, three people are killed, 847 are seriously injured, and society incurs $18.42 million in costs due to accidental causes such as drug overdoses, motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings, choking or fires.
In response to the deadly trends, and recognizing a public need for easy access to the data, the National Safety Council is digitizing its annual 98-year-old Injury Facts® publication to create a new, easily updatable online platform that gives an early look at emerging issues, puts data in historical context and helps Americans understand where their safety priorities really should lay.