A new research study published this month entitled “The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report,” has given details, state by state, regarding injury deaths in our country.
Not only does it include research on accidents and injury fatalities, it is also providing information on how things are getting better in some areas, like motor vehicle accidents and what we can do (and keep doing) to make our families and loved ones safer as they go about their daily lives.
According to the study, fatal motor vehicle accidents have decreased significantly over the past few years. Their studies show that motor vehicle accident deaths have dropped 25% over the past decade. That’s a great victory against car crash deaths, accidents that can cause so much tragedy so quickly.
10 Things to Know About Fatal Car Crash / Auto Accident Deaths in 2015
Nationally we have a ways to go: over 33,000 people will die in this country in an auto accident. We also know from this new study that:
- Men are 3 times as likely to die in motor vehicle crashes than women.
- Approximately 2,300,000 people needed emergency room treatment after a motor vehicle accident in 2013.
- Motor vehicle accidents result in approximately $90 Billion in direct medical costs and lost productivity (loss because victim cannot work) annually.
- Even though seat belts are the law in Indiana, Illinois, and most other states, 1 in 7 adults still don’t bother to buckle up before driving on every road trip.
- Men are 10% more likely to not wear a safety belt than women.
- In rural areas, adults only use their seat belts on an average of 78% of the time.
- Motor vehicle accidents are the second leading cause of death of children between the ages of 4 and 14.
- One-third of the deaths of children ages 0 – 12 years involved kids who were not wearing seat belts or riding in car seats or booster seats.
- When used correctly, child safety seats can reduce fatal injuries by more than 70 percent for infants and more than 50 percent for toddlers.
- Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers: the reason for 33% of teen deaths in this country is because of a car accident.
For teens in Indiana and Illinois, as well as children under the age of 14 years, the danger of being seriously injured or killed in an auto accident here in Indiana or Illinois remains particularly high.
Couple this with the risking rate of epidemic proportions of prescription pain medication misuse and overdose, and concern for the safety of young passengers and teen drivers in our part of the nation remains high, even if the statistics show that nationally, the overall danger of dying in a car accident is falling.
