An Exceeding Number Of Americans Are Dying By Accidents

By Dipannita - 14 Jun '16 14:30PM

An all time high number of Americans are dying because of accident caused by falls and fatal overdoses. However, the number of American nationals dying because of a car accident has decreased.

According to a new report, excessive consumption of opioids is one of the main reasons behind overdose-related deaths in the country. Fatal opioid overdose is estimated to have killed more than 13,400 people in 2014 itself.

The survey, conducted by National Safety Council, has further found that more than 136,000 people die accidentally in the United States in 2014, a 4.4 percent increase against the statistics for the previous year. Overall, the statistics appear to be 15.5 percent more than what has been ever been recorded in the last one decade.

Out of 136,000 people, more than 42,000 died from accidental poisoning or fatal overdose. Meanwhile, the number of deaths from road accidents has declined, thanks to the modification in the drivers license requirements for teenagers.

According to National Safety Council director Ken Kolosh, fewer number of young adults and teenagers are now dying in road accidents, as compared to the numbers back in 1981. However, driving under the influence of alcohol, speed issues and not fastening seat belts still remain the biggest driving-related issues that lead to 10,000 road crashes annually.

Kolosh believes that using cell phones while driving and getting distracted by other electronic devices is also an issue, however, there is not enough data that confirms that it leads to an increasing number of crashes too.

In fact, distraction-related accidents remain under-reported in the country. This is because the police officers, at the time of investigation after the crash, are unable to figure out the level of distraction that led to the accident.

Kolosh, however, believes that the statistics do not show that the Americans are at an increased risk of accidents. This only means that people and societies can take measures to prevent such incidents.