ACCIDENTS
Here is a list of the leading causes of accidental death.
- Motor Vehicle Accidents
- Accidental Falls
- Accidental Poisoning (Includes non-intentional drug overdose and misuse)
- Drowning (Does not include suicide by drowning)
- Fires and flames
- Inhalation and Ingestion of objects (choking is an example)
- Medical Procedure Complications (bleeding, infection, etc.,)
- Firearm accidents, Water Transport Accidents, Air Transport Accidents, and Electrical Shock round out the field.
MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS
Motor Vehicle Accidents (MVA's) kill and injure more than all other accidents combined. MVA's however are preventable. The most recent statistics regarding fatal motor vehcile accidents suggest that improper driving is to blame in 61.6% of fatal vehicle related accidents. The breakdown is as follows:
- Speeding
- Right of Way (Failure to yeild, disregard signal or stop sign)
- Drove Left of Center
- Improper Turn
- Improper Passing
- Followed too closely
Of these, alcohol and other response altering substances play a major role. So how do you prevent a motor vehicle accident?
- Never drink and drive. There is never a safe time or way to do so.
- Wear your seatbelt and properly secure children in an approved and properly installed child safety device.
- Follow posted speed limits and reduce your speed in inclement weather.
- Stop, don't slow roll, through stop sings.
- Don't "try to make it" through signal lights at an intersection.
- Wear a helmet when on motorcycles or ATV's.
- Be Alert and drive defensively.
While you may follow good driving habits the person in the other lane may not. Being alert to your surroundings and not distracted by conversation, cell phones, the song on the radio, and daydreaming is key to your avoidance of another driver invloving you in an accident. Ensuring you and your passengers are secured by seatbelts is your best chance at surviving when someone else hits you. Some people argue that they fear being trapped in the car if they wear their seatbelt. That is exactly what seatbelts are designed to do... keep you in the car. Otherwise you are in danger of being ejected from the car and your survival rate plummets.
Driving becomes so routine to most people that they fail to consider that the moring commute to work or school may be the most dangerous situation they ever encounter. Take your time, take it seriously, and take precaution.